For My Dad

Today is Father’s Day, so I’m writing about my dad.  I posted about him several months ago, and it was a much more “spiritual” post than this one will be so if you’d rather read it, you can find it here.

Today, I decided to just post a list of reasons why I love my dad and am thankful to have him in my life.

 1. I love his big laugh and huge smile.  One summer in college, I worked for my dad at his company.  I frequently ran errands around the little town of Wadesboro for his secretary.  Everywhere I went, people I didn’t even know immediately recognized me.  “You’re Tommy Vaughn’s daughter right?  I just love Tommy!” these little old ladies and middle aged women at the bank and the drug store and the DMV and Bojangles would enthuse.  The men, by contrast, would usually spot me and say, “Tommy Vaughn’s daughter, huh!  Good man.  Good thing you look like your mama, though.”  I think one reason all those people loved my dad was that he took time to laugh and tell a joke with them.  He isn’t the man who is going to sit on the front porch and talk for hours, but he is the man who will make your day great in the matter of a few minutes with a brilliant grin and a happy word.

 

2. I love his hard work and ambition.  My dad worked hard to build a successful business, and he is one of the smartest men I know.  He thinks quickly on his feet, makes solid decisions, and works harder than anyone I know.  One time I remember him telling me that the boss should be the first person to work and the last person to leave and should work twice as hard as the employees.  Even now, I respect most a boss who works earlier and later and harder than I do – and I work pretty hard and long.

 

3. He made time for family.  Even though he worked long hours, I honestly don’t remember him not being home for dinner.  Listening to my parents talk about his early days building Vaughn Contracting, it sounds as if he wasn’t home at all, but I have to search to find a memory that doesn’t include him at our dinner table.  I know he had to miss other events when we were children, but that daily dinner moment is one for which I remember him being present.

 

4. He is a fantastic husband.  One of my favorite memories growing up was at Christmas.  I was in middle school, and it was about the time in my life when my dad started enlisting my help with my mom’s gifts.  He always made me wrap what he bought, and in those days, he sent me on secretive missions to discover what he should buy.  I’d shop with my mom, notice what she liked, and report back so he could buy it.  That particular Christmas, he didn’t ask for my help.  Instead, he brought me the gift and told me to wrap it.  It was handgun in a case.  I about died.  “Dad, you can not give mom a gun for Christmas.  That is the most unromantic gift ever.  She is going to kill you,” I protested.  I tried everything I could to convince him it was a bad gift, but he was stubborn and insisted I wrap it.  The next weekend, I went shopping with my mom.  She was on to my yearly missions and kept making comments about things she’d like for Christmas – jewelry, clothes, furniture.  Overcome by guilt, I broke down and told her she was getting a handgun.  “I just think you should be prepared,” I said to her disappointed frown.  My mom is too sweet to rat me out, and when Christmas came, I looked over her shoulder with a pit in my stomach as she unwrapped that handgun.  But, when she opened the case, instead of a handgun, she found a beautiful, big diamond ring.  We have a picture of the moment she unwrapped that gift and the jaw dropping expression on my face is priceless.  I love that my dad bought her that ring.  I love that he made me think it was a gun knowing that I’d probably crack and tell my mom.  I love that he still kisses my mom in front of us and sends her flowers at work and carves their initials in trees when they are walking.  I love how he thinks of ways to make her day special.  I see those same traits in my brothers and the way they treat their wives, and I love that my dad taught them that.

 

5. I love that I can count on him.  As you know from my previous post about my dad, he is always there when I really, really need him.  When I had mice in my house or a car accident or a lawn mower problem, he would jump in his truck and drive 3.5 hours to Greenville to help me.  Now that I am married, he is probably so glad to give those duties to someone else, but I’m thankful to know that when I really need him, he will be there.

 

6. Besides being a fabulous dad, he is a terrific father-in-law.  My last favorite thing about my dad is the way he advocates for Andy and Grace and Alley.  He looks at all of them and sees the absolute best.  Last week, he was bragging on the way Alley had taught him to take his own picture with my mom.  He was demonstrating to me how she showed him to hold the camera up and at an angle.  I could have died laughing.  You would have thought Alley invented the concept for all the praise he was giving her.  I love the way he acts like Grace drinking his favorite drink with him is the coolest thing he has ever seen and for how he always makes Andy laugh.  I love how he has easily accepted each of these three people into our family and how, even though our family is pretty much known for giving one another a hard time, he never has a negative word to say about any of the in-laws.

 

These are only some of the things I love most about my dad.  He is incredibly awesome, and I could not be more blessed to have him in my life.  Happy Father’s Day, Dad!!