A Tribute

There are so many stories that I could tell you about my father that would show you the type of man he is, but one memory that sticks out most in my mind is getting up and going to work with him. When my brother and I were little we would beg Dad to take us to work with him. My Dad owns his business, High Plains Siding, and he and his brother run it. They are both good at what they do and have been doing it most of their lives! When Dad would agree to take us to work we would get up extra early, sometimes even before the sun had come up. Dad would come in and wake us up. Mom would make sure that we were dressed extra warm, because you can always take clothes off! Sometimes Dad would even let us drink coffee! We would sit at the table and pretend that we liked it even though both of us hated the taste, but it was what Dad did so we wanted to do the same. We would then load up in the truck, Dad would make sure we were buckled in and we would head off with nothing but the day ahead of us! A great part of going to work was the trip, usually the jobs were not in Gage and we would have to travel. That time driving to the job was quality time with Dad, something that we didn’t get a whole bunch of until later growing up. Most of the time Dad would let us lay our heads on his lap and go to sleep if it was a long drive! You got the occasional cigarette ash burn, but it was always worth it! When we would get to the job it was always the same, we would get all the tools we would need out, run power cords if they were needed, then wait. After an hour or so Dad would yell for us and we would go running, most of the time he need a tool, or he was ready for us to start a big job! Now Luke and I couldn’t work together so Dad would assign us a job. Both of us would cross our fingers and pray that Dad didn’t ask us to start picking up the trash around the house. You see there were a number of jobs that we could do, hold the ladder (most of the time Dad would have us hold a ladder to keep us busy not to keep him safer!), pick up the tools and move them to the next wall, move the sawhorse after Dad picked up the break, run a new power cord, or the dreaded start picking up the yard. Or there was the two that we both hoped for, back the truck up and you two go get another box of siding off the truck! If asked to do either one, we would at that moment feel 10 feet tall and most of all MEN in our fathers eyes because both were tough jobs that only a MAN could do! Then about one o’clock we would hear that words we had been waiting all morning to hear, LETS GO GRAB A BITE TO EAT! Now of course Luke and I had already bugged Dad about going to lunch a hundred times. We use to think that he would stall just as long as he could just to torture us! Now going to lunch was another one of the great things about going to work with Dad! He would usually take us to one of the small town cafes that fix awesome hamburgers and you got your fries on a separate plate because there were so many and you never would see the bottom of your coke! Dad loved those cafes that would keep his coffee cup full. We would sit there and have a conversation with Dad like we were just a couple of old men talking. We would clean up all day long for that meal! After lunch Luke and I were usually worthless, and Dad knew it and would let us have a bit of a break. We would take an empty siding box and rip it open and spread it out somewhere in the yard that was kind of hidden from Dad (we thought we were being sneaky) but somewhere that was also in the sun. We would curl up on that box and fall asleep, some of the time until time to go. At the end of the day we always cleaned up all the small pieces on the ground and put the tools away. We would then pile back into the truck and begin our journey home! We would talk to Dad about the day or sometimes just listen to KOMA or some other oldies station all the way home. Getting home was always great too, we had been gone all day, and mom would let us know that she had missed us all day by giving her little men a hug and kiss as we came in the door. Mom always had supper cooking when we got home and it always smelt so much sweeter when we had worked all day and were tired! Usually after we ate mom would ask us about our day and we would tell her all about it in as much detail as our little brains could think of! Mom always made a big deal out of the our small accomplishments which made us feel even bigger! After supper it was into the bath tub and then off to bed! Sometimes Dad would come in to our bedroom and read us Tom Sawyer, but if not that he would always make sure to tuck us in, give us a kiss and tell us he loved us and that we had worked good that day. Mom would come in behind him and make sure he had tucked us in right, give us a kiss and tell us she loved us. It never took long to go to sleep, but I can remember sitting there think about how long it would take to get to next Saturday when we could go to work with Dad again! As I titled this post, this is a long time disserved tribute to my father. My Dad is a mans man. I have posted with this a picture of my Dad’s hands with his grandson’s. You can see lots of hard work and experience in those hands! My Dad taught me many things, He taught me to work hard and give 100% at every job you do. He taught me that there is a time to play also. Dad taught me right from wrong and to fear and respect God. Most of all, my Dad taught me how to be a good Father! Dad I hope that I can be half the Dad that you have been to me! Thank you for being such a great father and such a great example!