Happy Father's Day-BIG DADDY

This weekend is Father’s Day and while my husband is an amazing hands on father, I would like to give a shout out to my very own Daddy! If you have ever met him, he probably made an impression on you that you won’t easily forget. As an adult with children of my own, it is fascinating to watch different characteristics of your children reflect their parents. I am no different than many other children and am an interesting combination of both my parents. My height…my Daddy. My healthy teeth…my Daddy, my frankness (let me tell you what I think attitude)… my Daddy.

So, I wanted to make a list of memories I have of him and with him. It started out as 10, than 20, than I was going to do one for every year I have known him and it just kept going. By the way, I am not 42…I just had to stop it somewhere! I don’t expect all 3 of my readers to read the entire list and that is fine. It isn’t so much for you as it is for me and My Daddy!

1. Taking me to the circus in Memphis. I was asked to ride on a float and play a musical instrument and afterwards when I went to find Daddy he had moved seats.PANIC!
2.He took me to my first movie, "The Jungle Book"
3.Weekends at Island 66
4.His treading water in the deep end at the country club and bribing me with Baskin Robbins if I jumped off the “high” dive.
5.The phone call many years ago on Valentine’s Day that we hung up he said we were moving to a new house (the house I had my wedding reception in)
6.His crazy tv commercials, bikini clad girls in minks, jumping out of airplanes “but Daddy you forgot your parachute”
7.Finally agreeing that I could get my ears pierced (summer before 6th grade), but he wasn’t paying to have holes put in my ears (Papa-his dad-gave me the $20 bucks to do it).
8.Chaperoning on my 6th grade field trip to Hunstville, AL for Space Camp. All the boys wanted to ride with him.
9.Dancing with him at my 6th grade dance (wish I had a copy of that picture to share)
10.Agreeing to go frog giggin with him and the roads were so muddy and slippery that we had to turn around
11.Teaching me how to water ski.
12.Disneyworld and the trip that Hart ruined because he was no fun to be around! Hahaha…really just threw that one in for little brother’s benefit!
13.The look he had on his face when BJ, our old black lab died.
14.The time he found a brown La Baron convertible and insisted it was the perfect car for me and would paint it any color I want it (I refused to drive a doodoo brown boxcar)…to say he was disappointed in my behavior would be an understatement. Which led to #15
15.The time he was scared to come home from work because he had told Mama and me that the Black Buick Regal I had been driving for a week was going back to the dealership, because he could find a better deal. He sat under a tree outside until I went and climbed up in his lap. Oh yeah...I got the car.
16.Spring Break when he took the family to Memphis for several days and insisted we all go see “Dancing with the Wolves”. All of us were dreading it because it was such a long movie, we loved it!
17. Chaperoning the mission trip to Mexico with my church youth group and T. Kay.
18.Parachuting in Mexico and when he said have fun “dumplin” the guy asked me if that was my name (for real?)
19.The dinner at the Ranchero when he and Mama wanted to make sure I didn’t drink too much on the senior cruise because it would really ruin my trip (the sun, alcohol, don’t mix). They said that since I was underage they knew my drinking experience could not have been too much (they weren’t too off). However, my little brother was another story.
20.Conversations about Nova Scotia duck tolling dogs over Thanksgiving lunch for several years, until he finally brought Mattie home to us!
21. He called every boy I ever talked to a “Momar” which meant something foul in some other language (I think that came from Lewis Grizzard).
22.Dancing with him at Lead Out (Lee Academy’s version of Prom for the Seniors)
23.The pride he felt when I returned from a weekend at MSU my Junior year and vowed to never go to that cow school with those stupid cow bells!
24.The horror that his daughter was going to be a MSU Bulldog and the relief that she had finally made a decision the spring she graduated.
25.The incredible bragging rights that he “never signed one check to send money to ‘that’ school”
26.Traveling to Starkville and sitting in the truck sleeping the entire football game, only to spend a few minutes with us on homecoming weekend.
27.In 1996, taking me to Oxford for a Ole Miss vs. MSU basketball game. Ole Miss won and they were obnoxious. He thought it was great. I thought it was great we ended up in the Final Four that season.
28.One November 26th, when one of the dogs had gotten away and he was so distracted by the disappearance that he forgot what day that was (Mama’s birthday)
29.Asking him when Brian asks if he can marry me not to tell Mama. I wanted to be the one to tell her we were engaged.
Daddy: “What’s the boy waiting on”
KM: “I think until he can afford me”
Daddy: “Baby, he is never going to be able to afford you.”
30.The bottle of Dom Perignon he bought and saved down the street so Mama wouldn’t know Brian had proposed
31.A last minute trip to the Egg Bowl in 1998 as father and daughter, the wedding was just a month away. (MSU won)
32.Watching “Father of the Bride” with Steve Martin the week of my wedding.
33.Dancing with him at my wedding reception in the beautiful backyard tent.
34.The surprise 30 year wedding anniversary dinner at Madidi for Mama
35.When I tried to tell him we had an addition to the family, he asked if we got another dog? No. Cat? No. Gerbil? No, it’s a baby. “A What?”
36.The look in his eye and the sounds of his voice, when he told me how special it was that I named my little girl, Anna Hartley. He had no idea that I had wanted that name since I was a little girl (Mama, kept that one a secret)!
37.When Hartley V was born and spent so much time in Philly, Daddy and I seem to develop a deeper bond. We were the only ones left here in MS that really understood what the other felt. We were scared and sad we weren’t with the rest of our family.
38.The way that he says “Big Daddy” and signs his emails in all caps BIG DADDY
39.Cigars.
40.Driving through downtown Clarksdale to count the out of town license plates.
41.The fun trips to the beach with all of us.
42.The bottles of wine when we all get together.

Happy Father’s Day, Daddy. I love you and can’t wait to continue adding to the list for many years to come!