Father of mine!

I realized I haven't written very much about my dad on here yet, which is sad, because he's pretty awesome. So I thought I better remedy the situation.

These are from a walk we went on this summer...

Father-Daugher Love!

I was trying to get a cute making-faces picture, but he wasn't that into it.

Come on Dad, get with the program!

There we go!

Seven Cool Things About My Dad Off the Top of My Head:

1. He has told Allie and me that he loves us, is proud of us, is glad he's our dad, and that we're beautiful in pretty much every conversation for our entire lives.

Let me clarify the "pretty much". I am sure that in the course of life and the fact that "conversation" could be defined to mean "Pass the salt", we have had conversations which have not included one of those exact phrases. But believe me when I say that they are rare enough to be statistically insignificant. I've heard those things so much that I have never doubted them, and they have become a part of my being and how I view myself and my worth in God's eyes too. I am lucky beyond measure.

2. He has the corniest jokes ever.

Ever. Seriously. We try to pretend they're not funny, but they still are.

3. He loves his job and is good at it.

Whenever I hear the phrase, "If you want to be happy for a year, win the lottery; if you want to be happy for a lifetime, love what you do" I think about my dad. As a psychiatrist, he spends all day helping people, and he pours himself into it and loves it.

4. He's obsessed with the Beatles. OB-SESSED.

Example: When I was little I heard so much about Paul, John, George and Ringo that I thought they were our friends. His best friend's name is John, and I just assumed he was John Lennon until I was six. I couldn't figure out why the other three didn't come over, too. For my parents' 20th anniversary they went to a Paul McCartney concert (case in point), and apparently Paul and Dad made eye contact. Seriously.

5. He loves books and reading and helps me love books and reading.

I am an avid to the point of obsession reader (duh) and that is a direct result of my parents and the fact that we probably could have paid for another year of college with the amount of books they were willing to buy me to support my addicti- hobby. My dad loves books, loves reading, read to us for years (Sherlock Holmes should be everyone's bedtime book :-)), and loves that I love reading. Our favorite father-daughter date is still going to Borders and hanging out for hours at a time.

6. He and Mom don't let us repress our feelings.

This is without a doubt one of my favorite things about my family. My parents are shrinks. We just talked about stuff. I was allowed to have questions about awkward subjects, I was allowed to feel unhappy or confused or angry (or happy :-)) and to talk about it. In 8th grade when I was having lots of middle-school-girl angst he was as miserable about it as I was. I remember after crying to him one time, he told me that he knew it might not make me feel better right then, but to just try and remember that it's okay to feel sad and that even if it didn't feel like it, "This too shall pass". I don't remember if it was helpful at the time, but it's been immensely helpful in every difficult period since then and I've passed the advice on to numerous friends.

7. And of course...

We have conversations like this.

In London, Summer 07.

This pic just makes me happy because he's wearing his Wheaton Dad shirt.

I love my dad!