Dad

The older I become, the more I realize how truly lucky I am to have been raised by my parents. I feel blessed, but feel like "blessed" implies that I am somehow better than someone that had an absent or abusive parent, thus I think I shall use the term "lucky" - I certainly had no choice in the loving family I received. The only child of a couple that had been married for almost 10 years and had been wanting children for 8 of those years, I was born into an eager, nurturing family.

My Father was a glass-is-half-full person, ever the optimist. He believed that most people are doing the best they can, although he had his pet peeves, many of which I have adopted as well. He believed the best about people, sometimes to his downfall or at least people did take advantage of his trust. Warm, funny, modest, intelligent - I hear his contagious laughter in my head often and it brings comfort.

I was taught to love and respect people and to tolerate differences. My father was not a "religious" man, but he was forgiving and tolerant and believed people should be given a second chance. He lived with an air of forgiveness that I have seldom found in people. Yes, he had his faults, but - thankfully - those faults were not directed at me and they were not anger, impropriety, dishonesty, or immorality. The greatest lesson I learned from him was humor - he loved to laugh at life. The greatest gift I received from my parents was their loving example of honoring each other in marriage. My parents loved each other tirelessly and in all circumstances.

It seemed like the thing to do on Father's Day, jumping on the bandwagon to memorialize and honor my own Father, David Davidson. In some ways I must admit that I try NOT to think about him too much on Father's Day because I miss him very much. However, he is ever present in my thoughts, as is my Mother, and I am a living part of both of my parents in every sense of the word, their strengths and their weaknesses.
Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you.