One Year

Today marks one year ago that the first man I ever loved passed away on a lonely stretch of highway in West Texas all alone in his pickup truck with his Stetson, his cowboy boots and a block of his favorite cheese beside him in the seat. The man I thought would live forever drove off into the sunset and never came home…and I miss him.

My dad was far from a perfect man, and was plagued by many “demons” that kept him from ever living up to his true potential, but he had a HUGE heart and he never left a doubt that his heart belonged to his family. So I prefer to remember the good times here today. I prefer to tell you why I loved my dad til my heart overflowed and why I’ll never stop remembering the man that…

…brought home a puppy from a business trip just for me when I was 2 years old.
…built me my first dollhouse at his workbench in the garage.
…made big breakfasts on the weekend and woke me up early because he didn’t believe in letting his kids sleep late.
…always drug me along to the mall the night before Christmas Eve so I could help pick out my mom’s gift which was always jewelry.
…bought me my first horse “Dan” and spent hours teaching me how to ride him and care for him.
…spent hours trail riding on horseback with me and my dog through the trees and across the streams of the ranch we lived on.
…decided to leave a day early for our vacation to New Braunfels one year, but forgot to call the hotel to reserve an extra night in the room so we had to spend the night in the minivan.
…tubed the river and rode every big ride there was with me at Schlitterbahn on that vacation.
…took us camping and loved to fish like he loved to eat cheese and drink beer.
…built my “bug box” for my bug collection in highschool biology class.
...took my dog who was now old and crippled to have her put to sleep while I was at school so it wouldn't upset me.
…wore Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts as well as he wore Wranglers and a Stetson.
…sat on my highschool boyfriend’s lap and gave him a big fat kiss on the cheek the first time he met him.
…stood before the school board and argued that I should be allowed the valedictorian spot and never said a word about it to me because he didn’t want me to worry.
…brought home a shiny new Firebird the day I tested out of my last year of highschool.
…brought me a beautiful bouquet the day I brought my baby girl home from the hospital.
…held me tight as an adult when I cried in fear for my husband when he was in the hospital with a heart condition.
…made my daughter fall absolutely head over heels in love with him by reading to her, rocking her, letting her fall asleep on his belly, and sharing his late night snack with her.
…could fix anything and tried to teach my husband the same skills because he knew he never had a father to show him those things.
…always smelled like Grey Flannel cologne and left that scent imprinted forever in my daughter’s little mind to always remember her Papa by.
…left a note for us on the kitchen counter that day saying thank you and asking us to kiss Makenzie for him.
…called me at work the morning he left town to tell me he loved me and he would call me when he got there. And oh, he’d be home Thursday…how I only wish he’d come home.