Happy Birthday Daddy!!

Today is my dad's 60th birthday. He doesn't know I'm posting this today and I'm not sure just how excited he'd be that I'm proclaiming to all blogdom that he is now in fact SIXTY years old. *insert a little giggle here*

We all went to dinner last night and totally sweat our butts off (literally) as we sat in an open air restaurant...in Florida...in August....yes...we're a crazy bunch. He said that he wasn't really celebrating anymore birthdays but of course WE wouldn't allow that...heehee...

The truth is, my dad should be celebrating this milestone. Several times over the last 7 years he's faced death head on. By the grace of God he has stared death in the face and laughed. A stroke that left him paralyzed on one whole side of his body, cancer that leaves anyone terrified just by the mere mention of the name, a heart attack that left us praying he'd make it through surgery, and finally a bacterial infection that turned out to be the greatest threat to his life yet.

For my whole life growing up my daddy was my hero. He could do no wrong and nothing could harm him. The older *I* get the more I realize how enthralled I was in my dream world...and really how much I wish I could stay in that dream world. But alas...I see that my daddy wasn't perfect...I see how imperfect and flawed I am as a parent. I can only hope and pray that my kids can one day look back and think with fond memories on their childhood like I can mine.

I can stand here today and say that I am a proud daughter of a man who taught me right from wrong, who introduced me to Jesus, baptized me, and showed me the path in which to walk. I am one of VERY few of my friends who can proudly say that her parents are still married and still LIKE each other. I can also say that I am able to look upon my heavenly father with fondness b/c of my amazing relationship with my earthly father.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!