One Fix after Another

Amanda and Emily have been very kind to me for Fathers' day. They gave me an external hard drive that I've been needing, a very thoughtful binder with some of my favorite Church talks, as well as a new pair of sandals (except on Sundays, I've sworn off shoes until the weather begins to act reasonably again).

Today, however, I need to give a tribute to my own father.

To a significant extent, I've tried to follow in my dad's footsteps. He has been a wonderful example for me. More than that, however, he has always been available to provide serious assistance when dire need reared its ugly head, even when that ugly head looked an awful lot like a natural consequence of my own procrastination.
No one thought to take a picture during an elementary student's crisis moments (particularly back when we had to pay to develop them), but many images are burned in my memory. Dad helped me start learning how to program computers when I was very young. When I decided to do an elementary school science fair project comparing the introductory programming languages of Basic and LogoWriter, he helped me design the comparison and work on the project. The morning of the science fair, when I was still up trying to fix my programs at 4 am, Dad was by my side helping out, making sure it got done in time. Without his help, I wouldn't have finished. Would it have been the end of the world? Probably not, but to a sixth grader, it felt like it.

Dad worked with me all night when I had to finish a frustrating project for junior high woodshop. He helped out in so many ways. He gave good advice. He taught with stories from his life and by providing a wonderful example. He fixed toys when they were broken. He taught me that, often, all you have to do is take something apart and put it back together again. Then I could fix things too.

Dad also took time to play. I wish I had a picture of the time the two of us stayed up all night playing a silly black and white computer game. We weren't completely sure how to play because everything was in German. We figured out, however, that you could win if you spent your geld on enough pulver to shoot your kugeln over the mountain until you hit the other guy's König and destroyed his castle. It was silly, but I had a lot of fun. I'm glad he was silly too. I won the game in the end.
I certainly can't thank my dad enough for marrying my mom, who has also spent countless late nights, early mornings, and everything in between helping me out of multiple crises. The two of them are wonderful parents.
Although I've grown up and followed my dad's example in marrying a wonderful woman, he's still helping me out of one fix after another. When Amanda and I needed a new place to live, he and Mom let us use their old house. The place was in need of some serious repairs. Dad taught me about repairing walls, installing ceiling fans and much more.

When I moved out to Texas, Dad came along with me on the drive. He kept me awake. When I got the moving van wedged under a hotel entryway with a little less clearance than I had hoped, he jumped on the rear bumper (to lower the back end just enough so I wouldn't rip off the molding) and shouted directions so that I could back out.

I love you, Dad. Thanks for being there. Thanks for your example. Thanks for everything. Happy Father's Day!