By Grace Atherton

Written June 20, 2021

Happy Father’s Day to my Dad ~

A Marine – he always wanted to protect. It kept him up on the couch when I was out and lived with my parents until I came back at night (I would try to tip toe past him but he usually woke up. lol).

An editor – by necessity, he used to check all my writing before it went to contests or anything major (and he hates to read and write).

An athlete – he did all kinds of sports with me. He used to run with me when I was training until he was sure I could outrun him on long distance ONLY (he can probably still beat me in a short sprint).

A previous business owner – he taught me everything he knew in the paperwork side of it and a little in the shop.

A bit mischievous – he found funny double meanings to situations and words. I always had fun laughing at our coded messages and didn’t realize it doesn’t make sense to most people and it only makes sense to me because I was raised with it.

A gamer – he still enjoys playing word, math, logical and some random chance games (except Apples To Apples when I’m playing – another long story lol).

A man of faith (which came later in his life) – he showed me through his example (and seeing God show up in the most desperate situations) that when I don’t know what to do I can trust that God does know.

An involved father – he still answers the phone no matter what if I call. Once he answered it on a racquetball court (before he switched to pickleball). He was with the guys he plays with when I called to let him know I made a singing audition.

In closing, I’m grateful for the huge hard core changes he has made in his life over the last few years. I’m thankful he is continually striving to be a better man.

I love how he is loyal to my Mom. I never worried growing up or questioned him leaving for anyone else. I love how he puts everything into things. I love how in spite of his background, he has overcome and chosen a different path than those lived out in front of him.

Although my Dad (and myself for that matter) are far from perfect and far from doing everything perfect, I think about it sometimes when I look around the world. Of all the people God could have chosen for me, in the large scheme of things, he did a pretty good job of choosing my Dad.