A city for a canvas

In honor of Father’s Day this year, I’d like to reflect on a few of the things I learned from my Dad…

1) In life, it doesn’t matter what happens to you - it matters how you handle it.

2) Don’t let your pride cause “the One” to slip away.

3) Use a trap to catch a mouse, an eager rat terrier to catch a gopher, a trash can and a piece of fried chicken to catch a ‘possum, and a glass of milk and a slice of buttermilk pie to catch a man.

4) A margarita on the back 9 holes will make your game better, and if you have to, have someone hold your head down to keep your eye on the ball.

5) There are good men in the world. Really, really good men. My dad is one of them.

6) When you lose someone you love, it’s okay to cry. And cry hard.

7) Brand new cars are always bad investments.

8) If you want a taste of real work, try bailing hay in the mid-summer Texas heat.

9) You’re not done shellin’ peas ‘til your fingertips turn black, purple, and/or green (depending on what you’re shellin’).

10) Freedom isn’t free.

11) In the middle of a Texas summer, you can survive without air conditioning. Really, you can. Air conditioning is actually a luxury.

12) Never let your anger get the best of you because if it gets the best of you, all that’s left is the good and better of you.

13) Love is a choice, not a feeling, and there are infinite ways to express it.

14) Forgiveness too is a choice, but there is but one way to express it.

15) The one shot in basketball you should never, ever miss is the free throw. Hello, it’s called “free” for a reason.

16) Giving each other nicknames is a way to say “I love you.” 

17) Bear hugs mean “I need you.”

18) A good driver, pitching wedge and putter are not luxuries - they are necessities.

19) The best talks are had on the back porch over a glass of sweet tea.

20) Sometimes, for the people you love, you have to do things you don’t want to do, i.e. rubbing your daughter’s feet while lying on the couch watching the ball game.

21) If you’re going to get up and go to work every day for the rest of your life, then be good at it. Whether it’s laundry duty at the local hospital (my first job), or breaking your back in a steel mill (dad’s job), or 20 years into a lifelong career, if you’re going to do it, do it well and do it hard. If you aren’t doing this, you are being dishonest.

22) As hard as you work, that’s as hard as you should play. Let the little kid inside get out every chance you get.

23) Never let the people around you forget that you love them. Tell them every, single day.

24) Teach your daughter how to swing a golf club at age 10, how to dance at her 8th grade Valentine’s Day dance at age 13, how to drive a stick-shift at age 16, and at age 18 teach her that she can depend on herself because you’ve spent 18 years preparing her to do just that.

25) Everything tastes better deep fried or cooked in bacon grease and covered in gravy. Unless it’s dessert, then you need lots and lots of butter.

26) Every woman should know how to change her oil and change her tire. Changing spark plugs and break pads are just some other things my dad thought I should know.

27) Do not give your kids everything they want. Give them the means to earn everything they need.

28) When God doesn’t answer your prayer, it doesn’t mean He wasn’t listening. Sometimes you have to tell your children “no.”

29) There’s nothing else in the world that smells like that old wood in the Winfield Junior High basketball court (where he and I both played ball as kids) or like the house my father was raised in (though it burned down about 7 years ago).

30) Create a life that’s worth hanging your hat on, one that allows you to sleep soundly at night, and laugh and smile all day, and relishes the preciousness of each day with the ones you love.