Of Dads and Heros...

My Dad....where do I begin?
Dad has a way of telling a story; he can make the story come alive. I'm sure that some of my best memories are stories that I have heard over and over and are not my memories at all, but they are his.
I love the way he remembers me. I always seem to be so much better than I am, when seen through the eyes of my Father.
I'm sure the first crush I ever had was on my Dad. He was always the most handsome man I ever knew. He always smelled so good, the way men are supposed to smell, like 'Old Spice', 'English Leather', and shaving cream.
My Father laughed with me and cried with me.
He rescued me when my world came crashing down.
I'm sure that there where times in my life that he wanted to strangle me, like the time I filled my little Austin Marina up with as many girls as would fit to go to a Stake dance in Mesa. We would cruise main street playing the radio and yelling at all the cute boys. Then when the car could take no more dad would have to drag out of bed in the middle of the night and drive all the way to Mesa to rescue me.
The rescuing actually began at a very early age, when I was playing with Ben and fell into a ditch. I would have died that day if dad wouldn't have reached the ditch in time.
I'm sure that Dad didn't know that when I became his there would be a lifetime of rescue duty.
Dad never had to clean his guns when boys picked me up for dates, or have 'the talk' with any of them, I have four older brothers, they handled all that stuff.
My Dad never loved anything or anyone more than he loved my Mom.
A couple of my favorite 'little girl' memories...
Mom always made me the most beautiful dresses, I had one once that had "Button, Button, who has the Button?" embroidered on the skirt with two great big buttons on each side. All my dresses had great big bows in the back. When I was little and getting ready for church I would always stand in front of my Dad and he would tie the most beautiful bows.
I would sit next to my daddy in church. He would take out a big white handkerchief and roll it up on each side and make me two little babies that I would gently rock to sleep.
Oh, and then there was the...
A U C M puppies?
L M N O puppies,
O S M R C M?
O S I C M....P N.
He still gets a kick out of that. :)
Dad didn't preach with words, but with the way he lived his life. He was respected by everyone in town.
Several years ago when Echo married Marc I got to dance with my dad while Ben danced with Echo. We danced to "Daddy's Hands". It was a very special day for me and I will always be grateful to Ben and Echo for sharing the floor with my dad and me.
I'm sure it broke Dad's heart every time Bob would leave me and the kids. We would sit alone in an empty house waiting for him to come pick us up, with everything we owned tied up in a bed sheet. Having daughters of my own now I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for him not to hunt Bob down and kill him. But for Bob it was just the opposite. Bob always knew that Pa Hatch loved him, even to this day after all that has happened, the perfect 'Christlike' love is felt by Bob.
Dad never judged me, never told me that he was ashamed of me. He let me live and learn, and that I did.
Never has there been a better example of the pure love of Christ.
I love my Dad. I am so blessed to able to be with him for Eternity.
I am grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for the sealing power of the Priesthood that makes eternity possible.
I am grateful that my dad holds that priesthood and bears it with integrity and humility.
Happy Fathers day Dad. I love you.