It’s time to celebrate dads!
I remember as a young dad, I would come home from work and enter the house from the garage, into a long hallway leading to the kitchen and beyond that the dining room. My two boys were about 3 and 5, and they would run from the dining room and then into this long hallway and just before reaching me, they would jump as high as they could and I would catch them in my arms and give each a great hug and kiss as they welcomed me home!
I forever cherish these memories!
My dad taught me by his example, the art of woodworking, working with his hands, especially when it came to building things, and I mean things like ‘houses’. He enjoyed working with his hands, and I think he built a total of five houses in his lifetime. So I learned everything to pouring the footings for the basement, or laying block for a crawl space, to nailing shingles on the roof. And much of everything in-between, like putting the floor joist down to nail the plywood onto for the subfloor, to nailing studded walls together and then lifting them into place and securing them to the subfloor. Then the rafters were nailed into place, plywood sheating for the roofing, then tar paper and finally the shingles.
We then would wire and plumb everything, add insulation to the outer walls, put up drywall, and then either tape and mud the drywall seams, or put paneling up over the drywall. Of course the windows and doors were put in before we insulated and drywalled.
I was involved in helping my dad build three of the five houses he built. The first one was being built when I was born, the next two I helped in building around 8th grade through high school. His fourth house I did not help build since it was built in Florida and I lived in Michigan, this was while I was in college, or shortly there after. I did help on his fifth house in Florida, went down and helped wire it.
My dad taught me to take pride in what I do, whatever it may be. Not to cut corners and to make sure you buy enough materials to get the job done right. I think he would over-buy, and I think I do the same to this day.
So let’s celebrate our dads! May God Bless all the dads out there, the ones we still enjoy time with, and the ones we hold dear memories of.
Happy Father’s Day 2022!
