Growing up, my dad was a baseball player. He got scholarships to colleges to play, and decided on Southern Utah University. He was a pitcher, and a dang good one. After college, he played in the minors, but his baseball career was cut short after an elbow injury and a surgery they just couldn't quite get his pitching arm back.
He went to school and because a high school English teacher so that he could still make money and coach. He started at Cottonwood High School in the Salt Lake Valley, and was introduced to my mom by my uncle's wife.
My dad bought a nice house in Magna, Utah, when he married my mom, and he got the baseball head coach job at Cyprus High School in Magna, Utah as well, and he stayed there until retiring a few years ago.
He coached baseball, was a defensive coordinator coach for football, and finally a golf coach. My dad realized that parents can be big problems when the coaches in any sport don't play their kids, and it kind of wore on him. However, parents weren't allowed to watch their kids play, and there weren't very many students that were on the golf team, so everyone played.
When I was younger, if my dad wasn't coaching something, he started a fertilizing business and did that for a number of years, which was nice for a while, until the chemicals made him feel sick, and ended up selling the business, and got out of doing that so that he wouldn't get sick.
My dad is a person who will give a stranger the shirt off his back, and is so kind and loving, it's impossible to not like him. He sacrificed so much. He was 24 when I was born, and ever since that day, he turned into dad mode and has taken care of my sisters and me. He sacrifices so much to give my sisters and me a better life.
As he's getting older, it's fun to see him act like he did when I was four and my sisters were newborns, which makes me love him even more. He's my hero. I know that's a clichet', but it's true. There have been times in my life where I felt lost, and I haven't always treated my dad back with kindness. He's very forgiving. He makes me want to do and be better.
I hope that I can take these personality traits that my dad has and use them with Elliot. I never want him to go with out, and I want to give and share experiences with Elliot that my dad did with me. We love going to the ballpark, when it's open, to watch baseball, or football and basketball games, and I understand that Elliot likes things that I may not care for, but I will support him in anything, just like my dad does with me.
One of my biggest fears is losing my dad. His love and humility is off the charts, and I love him with all of my heart. It's hard to tell my dad stuff like this, since he isn't a person that opens up their feelings much, but he has them, and every once in a while I'll see it, but when I do, I'm so appreciative of everything he does for me and cares about me. He's my best friend, and I never want to let him down.
There are billions of people on this planet, and it's interesting that we have all had lives, and situations. Many work and strive for excellence, like my dad, but not everyone has something to be remembered by when they pass away. When, and I hope it's a long time, my dad passes, I want people out there to know who he was, how he lived, and how he carried himself throughout his life, and I hope that I can pass that down to Elliot when my time comes.
I love you, dad! You're the greatest.
No comments:
Post a Comment