I Miss Dad

I miss my dad.  He was one of my primary caregivers.  I miss him brushing my teeth, ranging my arms, and giving me dinner.  But most of all I miss hanging out with him all day.  We would always go do stuff outside together.  I miss watching him mow the field, clear the brush, weed whack the grass and berry bushes. fix everything, maintain the property, water the lawn and bushes and trees, disk the garden, etc.  I miss watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! with him every night.  I miss watching our TV series DVDs at eight o'clock every night.  Leave It to Beaver, Little House on the Prairie, Touched by an Angel, Walker Texas Ranger, Knight Rider, Highway to Heaven, $6 Million Man, Bionic Woman, Dukes of Hazzard, Incredible Hulk, Wagon Train... to name a few. College football season will be difficult this year.  I will miss watching college football games with him.

I just came across this picture of me and Dad from 2015:

This morning I came across this comment from Dad on my blog.  It made me cry.

Dad said...

Tammy you are such an amazing person, and one of, if not the toughest person that I have ever met. What else should I expect from someone that started walking on their own at 7 Months. We are so proud of you, and love you so much. Each day you seem to be getting better, so all of those prayers are working. Love you sweetie! Love, Dad

June 28, 2015 at 1:59 PM

This was written shortly after my intramedullary nail surgery on my femur.

Just before Dad went into the hospital for the second and last time, he and I were home alone.  He told me how tough we both were.  He certainly was.  He was out clearing tall grass and berry bushes with our big weed whacker with the metal blade while on his deathbed.  Just days before he was hospitalized. Perhaps a little bit of his tenacity was passed down to me.

I was always told that I look like my dad.  I think you can see the resemblance in that picture.

I will always remember the last outing I had with Dad. It was just me and him that day because Mom had another appointment. It was in May.  Dad took me to my doctor's appointment.  Then afterwards I had to go get an x-ray a couple of blocks away.  That was a bit of a fiasco being confined to a wheelchair. But Dad helped me get my wheelchair positioned right for them to x-ray my femur.  Despite being two months from death himself.  Then we went over to the Kubota tractor store to look at lawnmowers.  Me in a wheelchair and Dad with a cane.  Out wandering the yard looking at tractors and lawnmowers. We ended up purchasing an amazing zero turn Kubota lawnmower.  Little did we know that Dad would only be able to use it a couple times before he died.  I wish we would have purchased it years ago so he could have enjoyed it.

I'm thankful for that last outing with Dad.  And I'm thankful for the years I had with Dad and all of the things we were able to do together over the past 17 years.  I miss my dad.

Wookatah wookatah.

That's my two cents.

Some pictures of me with my daddy through the years:

  

My last picture with Dad