Good Memories.

Today marks 14 years since my dad passed away. As I get older I realize how young he was when he died! When you're a teenager you kind of think your parents are old.... now that I'm 31 it seems like 42 is just around the corner :) I am so grateful for the 17 years of great memories and pictures I have of my dad. In this picture I think I am around 11 years old. My dad was always letting us jump to him and he'd catch us. I remember doing this all the time! Now, eleven is probably a bit too old for this kind of stuff, but my dad was a good sport. I still miss him so much, and I know I always will. He was energetic, crazy, daring, loving, competitive, patient, a great teacher and an amazing example.

Here are some memories that are coming to mind right now:

 *He loved action movies. I remember coming home from school one day and walking in to his art studio where I could hear a loud movie playing. I walked in and he sheepishly turned it off real quick because it was probably a rated R action movie. Nobody is perfect, right?
*He loved Sports, and would often record a basketball game before watching it so he could find out if the team won or lost and then he could watch it in peace, already knowing the outcome. When he was sick he would still try to play sports. I remember watching him play a basketball game at our family reunion with ice packs taped to various parts of his body.
*Even when he'd had a really tough week, health wise, he could usually make it to church to teach his Gospel Doctrine class. I remember how much he loved teaching that class.
*During my Junior year right after school he would always have me go to Pizza Villa, where both my mom and I worked, and get him a veggie sub to eat.
*My dog Chewy was his constant companion when he got too sick to teach school anymore. They were always together! After my dad died Chewy never stepped foot in my dads art studio again. Then Chewy got hit by a car two months later.
*Brian had left on his mission two days before my dad died. I remember Brian and I lying in the hammock in my backyard and talking about what we would do if my dad died while he was gone. We didn't think it would happen, but we both knew he wouldn't leave his mission if it did. After he passed away I carried the phone around with me for 2 days hoping Brian could at least call me, but the MTC wouldn't let him because they probably thought I'd ask him to come home.
*He was on medication for pain and some to help him sleep and often times his sleeping pill would hit him like a brick and then Brian, my mom and I would have to carry/drag/help him to bed (he was 6 '3 and over 200 pounds). Often we would use an office swivel chair to wheel him down the hallway. This was one of those things that was funny because if we weren't laughing over it, we would have been crying. My brother was on his mission in France at the time and my sister was going to school in Salt Lake so Brian, my parents and I were together a lot during that last year.
* Even when he was sick and in pain, he would try to make us laugh and make a joke out of every situation. He didn't like people to know how sick he really was. 

I am so grateful for the memories I have, and for the knowledge I have of eternal families. I know I'll see my dad again and when I do it will feel like we were never apart!