Christianity Oasis Forum

[sbennett]

My Daddy was a wonderful man and I learned so much from him growing up. He taught me love of family and love of life. He taught me the importance of learning and getting a good education. I learned how to show respect toward others and how to be a good citizen. He taught me to honor my country. He told me to go to church and take my children to church. He took me places and showed me things. I learned "Because I said so" was reason enough. I learned how to work hard but laughing and playing are also important in life.

Even tho I messed up sometimes....even when he advised me otherwise....he never said "I told you so". We just talked about what to do now. He always told me..."Daddy loves you" and he told my kids.."Poppy loves you". And we loved him back....so much.

[Dora]

Oh wow sb. Your dad seemed to have a lot of wisdom on how to raise a child. He established some firm foundations for you. Praise God!!

[kimby]

I can think of a lot of great memories that involve my father....but I'll start with the one that came to mind when I read through the thread. It's not something I have thought of in ages....

Parent's Day, 1st grade. A line of parents sitting at the back of the room. My mom was a stay at home mom so it was a given that she would be there. Mrs. Nichols had us come to the front of the room to introduce our parents. When I got to the front and turned around, there was my dad sitting right beside my mom! One of the few fathers that came that day. I was so proud! I don't know how he managed to get away from work and all the way to my elementary school but I am so glad he did.

One of the random pictures in my first grade year book shows my father sitting at the back of the room that day...as if I would ever forget!

[Dora]

Oh Kimby that is so cool!

Thank you for sharing. What a pleasant memory. I would love to see that picture.

I have one i drew in my mind but it's in b&w. Bet he waved at you to when you saw him there.

What a thrill!

Those things like that stick with us forever. Precious precious memories.

[kimby]

I can't just leave it at one....

I wasn't the type of kid that went crawling in mom and dad's bed everytime I had a bad dream, but there was this one time....
I ended up standing beside their bed saying matter of factly, "I had a crab dream."
There wasn't much to the dream....just a crab living under the covers down by my feet. Don't know what made that so terrifying, but I was.
I was my mom's shadow that next day. She went so far as to take the sheets off my bed and wash them to get rid of the crab. (I hated to tell her, but it didn't work!!)
That next night I was still petrified to go to bed. My dad ended up sleeping in the floor of my room to protect me from the crab. It couldn't have been comfortable when he had a nice warm bed across the hall, but there he slept anyway.
Guess the crab was scared of my dad...it didn't come back!

[havingfaithagain53]

Wow... I love all this sharing! We usually all have such deep problems to air out but this was much needed for all I'm sure!

I kinda always felt guilty that I had such a great upbringing too.... When I hear of so many going through all kinds of abuses as children I have always counted myself blessed.

My life growing up was always filled with many kids... 3 bros/2 sis and many many other relatives. We always seem to be having reunions like every month to me.... I remember of always having so much fun with the family... going up to the mountains too, just to see the snow. Almost every weekend we would pack up the car (station wagon) and sometimes we would know where we were going, and other times they would say it's a surprise. They were so mean sometimes... Then the smaller kids would argue who was going to lay in the back window... ahhh those were the days before the good ole seat belts... We were always taking vacations to some place different. The thing that really stands out with me is .... how dad & mom found the time to do all they did.... my dad worked 2 jobs and coached my bros baseball teams every year too... so... proves one thing.... we all find time for what we LIKE the best! And we definitely was taught respect.... if we didn't use it... well let's just say that was when we had the meanest parents in the world... Funny cuz all our friends wanted to spend time over our house with our mean parents... I cherish every minute I had with them. My mom is still with us at 82 and going strong everyday... she out does most of us young ones... That's cuz she not only looks 65....she acts even younger! hehehe

Thanks for giving me this moment to think about how BLESSED I was in growing up with an awesome family. The only one missing from it is my Dad who passed away at the early age of 49. The rest of us are still close and live in the same state, the farthest away is 25 miles..... not to many are that BLESSED!

Love ya all!

[Dora]

That sounds absolutely wonderful!!!!

Do not ever feel guilty sis. Hold on tight to those memories with your wonderful family as if they are precious jewels. Your parents worked hard to give you a terrific life. Don't let the enemy ruin that with his little guilt trip.

I wish everyone could have that. But we are blessed in our own different ways as God sees fit. He knows best. And everything will be just fine one day.

You must miss your dad terribly. Praise God for the hope we have in our glorious future. I bet your dads singing with the angels. What a wonderful place to be. Maybe he bumped into mine a few times while dancing around those golden streets.

[kimby]

The wind storms here have taken down the phone and internet in our home. I can get internet at work, but not international calls, so I guess I am compelled to share about my dad again since I would like to call home and can't.

One Christmas morning my brother and I woke up to find that Santa had left both of us new bikes. Mine was a pink Huffy. My dad took me out that day and helped me learn how to ride. After that I was good on my own but mom limited me to a four driveway radius...not a lot of excitement..especially when my older brother was allowed to travel much farther afield!

It didn't take long for me to get confident on the bike. My dad, seeing this, decided it was safe enough for me to ride farther as long as he was with me. Less than a mile from our house was a small, local airport. I can't count the number of Saturday or Sunday afternoons he and I would ride there together. We would park our bikes and wander among the planes, feeling lucky if we got to see one take off or land. He had worked on his pilot's licence at one point which is why I think he enjoyed it so much. The airport had a little shop, and my dad never failed to buy me a gumball when we stopped in. It probably only cost him a nickel but was wonderful to me.

I don't remember the time we took our last ride together...I kind of wish I had known when it happened so I could have made better effort to tuck each detail of it away.

[Dora]

Oh Kimby! That is so precious of a memory. Thank you for sharing. It brought me a smile.

Picturing you getting a gum ball. Dad was probably so pleased that he could make his little girl happy. I bought my boy a gum ball today and it brought me a bit of pleasure to do so.

Please feel free to share more if you would like. Please Please Please!

Love ya.

[kimby]

So many to choose from....

I did baton twirling from the time I was seven until part way through university. All of us loved parade days, to get out and march through the streets twirling. Christmas parades were the best though. Most of them were at night.

By the time I was about eleven I was one of the soloists and was in a different uniform then the other girls. For the Christmas parades, mom fixed my costume up with lights on it. My dad comes into play with the baton itself. Our coach had most of the girls use glow sticks to light up the baton. Since I was soloing I didn't have to match and my dad thought he could fix up something better to go with the lights mom had done on the costume. He worked with wires and batteries and a soldering iron. By the time he was finished the baton had multi-colour lights up and down it with a perfect spot for my hand in the middle.

He was always so good to be there for each parade...to drop me off at the start and pick me up at the end...and I would always see him somewhere along the route with a cup of coffee!

[Dora]

Oh Kimby! What a giving and supportive dad you were blessed with! Praising God for such a blessing. Got great pictures in my mind of your dad working diligently to do this for his little girl. *TEARS!* I'm blessed to be able to read these wonderful stories. So cool!

[kimby]

My dad owned his own business when I was in elementary and middle school. His office was in a complex and down the hall was a jeweler. My dad much preferred to work at night and often returned to the office after dinner to take advantage of the solitude. The jeweler operated under much the same philosophy.

They became friends and would take breaks together. They used this break time to see what random objects they could silver plate. We still have a silver plated beetle that they found in the hallway one night!

My dad was very much a life-long learner. He would read anything he could find and frequently set out to learn what we saw as a useless skill. With this jewler he had the chance to learn a bit about jewelery making. He learned the art of making rings quickly. My mom and I still have several that he made for us.

It was coming up on Christmas, and the hours he was keeping were getting longer and longer. On Christmas morning I found out why. That morning I opened a pair of sapphire and diamond earrings that my father had made for me.