My Daddy

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world is Sunday cooking in the kitchen with my family. Especially when its Fathers Day. Because we make really really good food for my hungry daddy. This post goes out to Derek Omar. I love this man so much. My dad is an incredible father but more importantly, he is an incredible friend. He is one of the few people in this big world that can actually talk some sense into my head. He is an incredible photographer, actor, grill king, mr. fix it man....you name it. And he has such a ridiculously fun personality that it really doesn't matter what we do. Whether its two tall glasses of orange juice, a bag of sour patch and a scary movie, a hunt for toads and jackrabbits, together, my dad and I seem to make everything an adventure.

Reminiscing on good memories:

The night before my open heart surgery we went to the grocery store and loaded up on good food that we were supposedly gonna eat the rest of the week. (pickles, yogurt) Weird junk that my dad and I have fetish's for. Oh and we acted like complete hooligans because it was late and we were in a grocery store and we were buying food.......you're realizing what an acceptable explanation that is.
The nights following my heart surgery he spent sleeping by my side. And in the morning he spoon-fed me double chocolate brownie ice cream.

Have you gotten a taste of the goodness of this man?

Anyway, the Christmas after my surgery was one to remember. I wrote on the top of my wish list, 'a parrot.' When my dad saw that I had put this on my list he jumped on KSL and immediately started looking. SCORE. I was so sure I was getting one until he came to me about a week before Christmas and said, "Hey nat, Im sorry but the lady who had a few baby senegals actually just sold them. But maybe we can try and get one in a few months." You can imagine the 'darn it' expression on my face. CHRISTMAS WAS RUINED. Just kidding. I was definitely disappointed though.

Skippin to the good stuff ~ Christmas eve we were opening presents (yes we open our presents on the eve of Christmas, get over it) I was tearing open a present only to find....a parrot toy....could it be?? Am I dreaming? I looked at my dad and he said, "Come with me." He brought me outside to a big parrot cage and told me that he'd gotten everything ready ahead of time but he still hadn't been able to get a bird.

It was a bittersweet situation, folks. After hugging and thanking him, I returned to my designated 'present opening spot' and my dad, for some odd reason, walked out of the room.

My dad eventually returned.

With a Senegal parrot on his shoulder.

I bawled my eyes out.

Oh and its on tape if anyone wants to see it.

As you can see, my dad is such a special man. Future husband: you've got some big shoes to fill, buddy.

But he recently did something for me that I will also never forget.

 About 50 years ago, an Elm Street could be found in almost every town in the Eastern United States. Big, beautiful, American Elm trees used grow all over the place, strong and hardy and could withstand temperatures as low as -42 degrees Celsius.

But during the 60's and 70's 'the Dutch Elm disease' came in and nearly wiped the beautiful species out. My dad and I wanted to take part in the 'Return of the Elm'. So, together, we planted one in our backyard.

He dedicated the tree to me. Symbolic of many things.

I can stand on our deck and watch the sun set behind that beautiful Elm tree and it really does give me a whole lot of strength and hope.

But more importantly it reminds me how much my dad truly loves me with all of his big, big heart.

Love you daddy.