No. 59 - DAD

The random number generator is starting to freak me out. Today is Dad's day, the day after we celebrated his 60th birthday. And he's No. 59 - the age he was only a few days ago. Freaky!

When writing a 365 post for those you most care about it's hard to know where to start. So I'm going to start at the beginning.

When telling a story, some people might say "before you were born...", but not my Dad. His favourite starting line for a story from long ago is "before you were a twinkle in my eye". His second favourite is "back when I used to have hair"....hehe.

If Dad and I had a song it would be "A Little Ray of Sunshine". It came about as Dad and my older brother Dallas were driving about town trying to find somewhere to eat. I had recently been born, in mid December, and as it was the holidays I believe a lot of places were closed. This song came on the radio and I guess the words spoke to Dad. It's nice to know I'm sunshine.

Here's the famous/infamous first day of school story. I get nervous, very nervous. Dad took me to my first day of school, I think because Mum knew I was nervous and Dad said something like "She'll be right. I'll take her". Well he never took me again because waiting outside to go in I said "I'm going to be sick". Dad said "No you're not". I said "I'm going to be sick". And before Dad could say "No you're not" one more time, I was sick!

When we lived in Melbourne, Dad had a vegie patch. He's had them most places we have lived but this one was special. We used to grow zucchini. I'm not sure exactly what I did to help the growing process but I do remember admiring how huge they got, and posing for a photo with Dad in the yard, both of us super proud of the home grown zucchini we were holding.

Through my teenage years Dad and I had a lot of arguments. It had a lot to do with my messy room, which he named "Chookuspigaramus" - my nickname is Chook (which you will hear more about in another 365 post). I think that it was after we moved back in with my parents (when the landlord sold our first home), that I begun to realise how much Dad and I were alike. I'm thinking that might have been a major reason for our arguments. Now our similarities just mean that we love to chat about kitchen appliances over a nice Thai lunch. Or we look at Brian and feel sorry for him for inheriting our "sweat like crazy" genes.

Dad is good with people. He always knows what to say and my family and I are proud of that fact. I remember sitting in the car with Shane and Dallas, I can't remember why or where we were going, but we were all talking about Dad and saying that we love his nack for choosing the right words and his problem solving abilities. It's a great memory because you could really feel the love and appreciation for him in what we were saying and most importantly how we were saying it.

Dad is also Kevin's problem solving go to man. Some days when Kevin comes home from work and he's got some major controversy he can't get on the phone to Dad fast enough. Obviously he prefers when the major issue happens on a weekend because they can then discuss it over a nice steak and a glass of red!

I believe that our car conversation also covered Dad's working life. As a youngster I never aspired to have the same career as my Dad. (Notice how I avoided mentioning exactly what he does/did? The truth is I have no idea how to describe it.) Now, I would love to have even half the career that my Dad has. He's top of his field. He knows everyone you need to and people want him for his knowledge and experience. I think that's the kind of role and career that most people aim for, but many rarely achieve.

Dad is my go to cooking guru. He loves the colour green and has every shade known to man, in all kinds of places from the letterbox to his wardrobe. All three of us love to spend time with Dad, he is fun, great for advice - even better on payback advice, and like us enjoys good food - and wine, hey Kevin?!

We don't have many friends but we are super happy that Dad (and of course Mum) are among our best.

Love you Dad.