Wednesday, June 9, 2010

61 reasons.


1. I love that my dad bought a karaoke machine with a head seat, so no matter where he was in the house he could sing and dance.

2. I love that my dad told me he was proud of me every chance he could.

3. I love that my dad was the life of every party.

4. I love that in college my dad would wait for my friends and me to come back from being out and wake up with one eye open saying "are we ready to do this or what?" then cook us the best meal we have ever had.

5. I love that my dad would always give me the best life advice.

6. I love that my dad would go to the gym everyday at 4:30am, walk on the treadmill for 45 minutes while watching the cooking network, then go directly to the store and make it better.

7. I love that everyone that knew my dad was in love with him.

8. I love that people would tell me constantly "you do realize you have the coolest dad ever?"

9. I love that when I wasn't sure what to wear, he would have me try on my "options" for him and mom to decide what looked best.

10. I love that my dad would tell me to be more fun during college. cool dad.

11. I love that my dad would never get a hotel room but rather stay with me and my friends wherever we were so he didn't miss the fun.

12. I love that my dad would wear the same sweat pants. a lot.

13. I love that my dad had an accent and said y'all. often.

14. I love that my dad would leave me voice messages with him signing on it.

15. I love that my dad would get dressed up and take me on our weekly wednesday lunch dates.

16. I love that my dad and I would sneak to mikuni quite often but the only rule was not to tell mom because she would be jealous.

17. I love that my dad celebrated his life everyday. And even got to have a 60th surprise birthday party to share with his loved ones.

18. I love that my dad told the funniest jokes to where we would always be in tears laughing so hard.

19. I love that my dads favorite room was the kitchen.

20. I love that my dad always had a new invention on his mind and ready to make it work.

21. I love that my dad would be the first person on the dance floor at weddings.

22. I love that my dad would always ask my opinions on things just to make me feel included.

23. I love that my dad would put anything down if it had to do with a recipe and my questions on it.

24. I love that my dad would tell me that mom was nuts and that he loved her more and more for it.

25. I love that my dad and I were going to dance to "My Wish" by rascal flats at my wedding.

26. I love that my dad was my best friend. He will always be my #1.

27. I love that my dad was the big fish.

28. I love that my dad could cook better than emeril, paula dean, or rachael ray. Hands down.

29. I love that my dad loved a good glass of wine.

30. I love that my dad would ask me facebook 101 questions.

31. I love that my dad always brought his "A game"

32. I love that my dad would hand out cards to people that said "your sorry ass needs help"

33. I love that my dad was born and raised in New Orleans. It will always be his home.

34. I love that my dad would be so proud of me.

35. I love that my dad would bring a blender, table, and something amazing to our indoor games for "post game" snacks.

36. I love that my dad knew me better than anyone else.

37. I love that my dad made video emails (sometimes with clouds behind him like he was jesus).

38. I love that my dad took care of us. always.

39. I love that he knew how to make anyone laugh.

40. I love that my dad loved elvis and his dance moves. and would try his hardest to dance like him.

41. I love that every birthday he was the first person to call me, and I always had a letter in my inbox early in the morning.

42. I love that I am daddy's girl.

43. I love that my dad was a pool shark.

44. I love that he knew how to make fun of me and himself better than anyone.

45. I love that he was one of a kind.

46. I love that my dad and I went to China for 10 of the best days of my life.

47. I love that my dad would always be the MC at events because he was that good.

48. I love that my dad knew how to love better than any man I've ever met. And he loved my mom with every part of his being.

49. I love that my dad would drive to any restaurant on the spot if he heard something was a "must try"

50. I love that my dad had the bestest friends since kindergarten. and boy are they great.

51. I love that his nickname was sticks (hence his chicken legs)

52. I love that I still get emails from family, friends, and complete strangers letting me know how amazing he was. oh, i know.

53. I love that my dad would tell people he was a doctor and had to get back to surgery so he needed to be seated at restaurants (with hour waits) right away. ha!

54. I love that my dad will never be replaced.

55. I love that the idea of a perfect night was a 7 course meal, perfect glass of wine, sweats, and an action movie on, all with his family by his side.

56. I love that he was a pay it forward kind of guy. random acts of kindness was his thing.

57. I love that my dad got a cat years ago, then the cat peed on him in the car - he took it back. second cat peed on the couch - he took it back. third one, went straight to the liter box and peed. needless to say, we kept her for 16 years.

58. I love that my dad would stop by my work just to say hi and tell me he loved me.

59. I love that my dad knew how to make everyone feel like the most important person in the world.

60. I love that my dad left a legacy that lives within my mom, brother and me.

61. I love that my dad will always be on my mind because he was the most perfect man, with the most perfect stories, and the most perfect way of loving us all.


i miss him. a lot. every second of every day. it gets harder for me because the more i live the more i want to share with him.

his birthday will be celebrated in style by us all today.

he's drinking a fine glass of wine and cooking for god in the heavens.

happy 61st birthday dad.

i love you more and more each day.


4 comments:

teacher girl said...

I read all the time & never comment, but I LOVE this post! Happy Birthday to your dad! He sounds like one remarkable man. :o) Hope you have a good day too!

Brit Lauren said...

Jen,
I have to tell you that I read this and it brought tears to my eyes because I met your dad about 4 times and even though it may not have been much - I knew he was this type of man. You can add to the list that he made the best seafood gumbalaya (sp) when we camped at Dillon's Beach and dumped it all on the table! At first, I was a little worried that someone would dump food on a table and expect us to eat it... needless to say, I went back for about 6 servings. :) Amazing.

Unknown said...

Jen...so beautifully worded. I wish I could have met him! Sounds like an amazing man. :) Kudos to you for sharing his legacy with us. Thank you.

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