« Oh Yeah - I'm On Vacation! | Main | Ocean Swim »
June 19, 2006
A Tribute to My Dad
So in the general hubbub that was this past weekend with our travel to SC and then the race, I didn't get to post my tribute to my dad on father's day. I'm a day late. Oh well. The way I see it, that's better than two days late. :)
Anyway, just like when I wrote a tribute to my mom back in May, I wanted to do a similar thing for my father.
My father is a civil engineer - the type that builds bridges and dams and other such things. Up until the time when my parents moved to South Carolina he was the guy that was actually on site, pouring the concrete and getting dirty (both literally and figurtively) out in the field, not the one in a nice building somewhere drawing up plans. He was up early and home late, in the extreme hot and frigid cold, working incredibly hard for 30+ years of his life. And so it's easy to see that the thing my father taught me was that anything worth something in life was worth working hard for. If it came easy, it wasn't going to mean nearly as much. This has been an important lesson for me, not only for running and sports but for school work, my career, and for relationships too. I'm highly motivated by challenging myself to do something better than I ever have before, which I'm sure comes from my dad.
I've always had a lot of respect for my father. He's not one to talk your ear off. In fact, long conversations were quite rare, so I always felt like when he did say something it was really important to listen. Now that he's semi-retired and perhaps a little more rested, he can be a little chatty at times. This I like also. He has a great sense of humor. :) And really he has a lot of compassion, something that it's always readily apparent but that can be seen if you know him pretty well.
But really, the quality that best exemplifies my father in my eyes, is an unwavering work ethic and a refusal to give anything less than his best. That's a hard trait to emulate. And I have big shoes to fill if I want to try to live up to his standards. But luckily I have a good teacher. :)
I hope you all have as great of a father as I do. I couldn't have asked for better parents. (and I would post a picture of him but one other trait my father has is total camera avoidance so I don't have any digital photos of us!)
Posted by beth at June 19, 2006 10:36 PM
Comments
Hi Beth, congrats on your new-found sport and your success in it. Also, your tribute to your father was very touching.
Posted by: dawn at June 20, 2006 10:42 AM
I agree. A great tribute to your dad. He should be very honored. You make me think of my dad, but in a good way. Thanks.
Posted by: Meghan at June 20, 2006 8:52 PM