Third Thursday Thoughts: Daddy's Girl

This week has especially brought my dad to mind. He was an Air Force veteran, so I always think about him on Veteran's Day. November 13 would have been his 92nd Birthday. He's been in Heaven now for over 25 years. That is hard for me to imagine. This is one of my favorite photos of the two of us. It was taken on the train in the park in Lawrence, KS, a favorite family picnic spot. He took his Sunday School classes there every year, too. That may be why I still like to count train cars as they go by, or why one of my next writing projects will center around an old train depot. 

I was always a Daddy's Girl. It was Daddy who took me to the library and concerts and museums when I was a girl, all things I still enjoy. Planes, trains, and police and ham radios were some of his passions. When we moved this last time, I found his old ham radio. Maybe someday I will crank it up again. He loved to read and when I was young, many hours were spent in his lap reading my favorite books. When I was old enough to read on my own, he was always ready to head to the library with me in tow. I don't ever remember Daddy getting mad when I was discovered with my flashlight reading under the covers after bedtime! He probably smiled. I know he was pleased when I became a library director. More than that, I know he would be proud of the writer I have become. Sometimes I wonder if somehow my books have found their way to Heaven and he gathered the family around the mansion porch to read my books to all my loved ones who are already there, my precious daughter Stacie included. She loved to read, too. Guess it runs in the family. 

In this season of Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for my heritage of a loving and caring family. I am thankful for the years we had with them. I treasure memories of Thanksgivings past when grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins gathered together to share the day. Make some memories of your own this Thanksgiving Day with your loved ones. And know whether you are part of a huge family gathering, or all alone, that your Heavenly Father loves you and is there with you always. He loves to hear us tell Him how thankful we are for every BLESSING He had given.

​Happy Thanksgiving!