Happy Birthday, Dad!

I just can't seem to grasp that you are turning 70 years young today! For some reason, even though I wasn't alive then, my most consistent image of you comes from those grainy 8mm films we have somewhere. There you are, in your Navy years, on a beach in Puerto Rico or something. You're looking like a young Johnny Cash, 175 pounds of swagger and mayhem. I guess I got that from you (just more of it haha). You've got a beer can in one hand, resting comfortable against your stomach, while your eyes roam near and far towards all the hotties on the beach. Good taste!

I don't tell you enough, but I love you and I miss you. I regret wasting so much time foundering, treading water, because it took time away from the important things..... like fishing. I've really enjoyed our time recently. I like walking into your garage. It's packed front to back and floor to ceiling with power tools. But everything is on wheels, which makes it easy to move around. I feel like I am in a mad scientist's workshop! And it just isn't right if there's not sawdust remnants giving a fine coating to everything in the room. There is sawdust everywhere, in fact. In the garage, around the yard, around the house. I like how you have a hammer and a saw ready for me when I visit. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I always miss our talks on politics. I don't always agree with you, or with Dave, but your convictions set you apart from everyone else. When I'm talking to you, I feel my mind being bent and strained and challenged. And though I will always argue the opposite of whatever you say, that's only because there's no fun in saying, "yup, I agree" all the time.

Thanks for all the Discover magazines over the years. It seems I am always leaving your house with a stack of them.

Thank you for taking me up north for family vacations. Mom gave me my sentimentality, and you gave it physical manifestation, by showing me what its like to sleep under a billion stars on a chilly UP night. By showing me the lakes and rivers and wonders of the North. I didn't appreciate it much back then...... I was always trying to find a way to listen to the Tigers game..... but now, living near a city, I realize where my heart truly lies.

So, I am looking forward forward to our next drink together at your campfire, the next batch of camp chili, the next home improvement project, the next season of gardening, and the next fishing lesson. My favorite toast is this, and it applies to you and Dave and I better than ever:

To us, those like us, and those who desire to be like us! Cheers!