What lessons did you learn from your father?My father was a man of few words. I was easily guided. A few of his remarks are still very clear in my memory, even to the point of remembering where they took place. Once I used the word "kill" in a sentence, you know, "I'm going to kill her!" He calmly, but firmly, told me to never use that word like that again. I never did. There was a period of time when I might have been a little sarcastic, and he said, "when you talk like that you remind me of Paula" (sorry George). I zipped it up right after that. Because he was a respected member of our small community, I never wanted to disappoint him by my actions. He would always say, "you do want you think is right", which usually worked. The couple of times I didn't do what he might want, I learned the lesson quickly and never repeated it.
His life of service was his legacy . . . hard working cowboy, engineer, civic leader, state politician, and committed church member. On those school survey forms, we never knew what to put down for his occupation. He did his best in tending to the home fix-its, but admittedly, that didn't always turn out well. When something is "gimshawed" you fix it with a "molly hogan", making do with what you have, and we had plenty of those.
You might be surprised to know this is us coming back from church -- during a spring flood. (I will post more about that another time.) I think it is Easter time because Tana and I have our little purses and white gloves. Mother said Tana dropped her shoes in the water. Our kid horse "Sunny" had the best temperament for children, but could also be stubborn. Some of dad's sayings were . . . "if you want to know what the neighbors are talking about, listen to their children" . . . "situations alter cases" . . . "time, patience, perseverance, precaution, and a little sweat oil will skin a porcupine!" And of course Tana and I will always remember "how cum you always do that?"
My father thought a country setting would be a great place to raise a family -- he was right. There wasn't anything easy about his life, but the good Lord was kind to him. The four months before his passing, he saw all the family and friends who were important to him, and then he died in his sleep . . . what a gift. When I heard the news I thought, "a lot of goodness just left the earth". I was a daddy's girl and I miss him.Next week: If you could change your greatest hurt, challenge or regret -- would you?
3 comments:
Thank you for taking the time to reflect and write this! For his birthday last week I put his cowboy hat on our dinning room table. I usually always do this to remember him during his birthday week.
I feel sad. I left a comment at the beginning of this quest to remember quotes from our fathers. I left a comment, but I don't see it in conjunction with Dad's page. I could easily add my accolades to that of Kim in regards to our father. Among the many quotes that I remember coming from Dad were, "Remember who you are and what you represent" and "Run both ways and hurry back." To people alot younger than he was who helped him, he would say,"Thank you! I will help you when you are old" He touched not only the lives of those of our family, but also all of the kids of our generation. He was a corner stone of the Glasgow branch. I am sure all of you could come up with a Manson Bailey Memory.
Thank you so much for sharing your father with me - and I really mean that. Through the years I always had to find someone to be my partner for Daddy-Daughter dates at church. President Bailey gladly accepted my invitation one year. Tana was already in Mutual and Kim wasn't old enough, so he didn't hesitate to step in for me. I couldn't have had a better partner.
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