Many years ago - I wrote this for my father

Download the original attachment

 I wanted to tell my dad how much I appreciated him and I wrote this when I was a young adult. 

Dad 

• You taught me to respect nature and the environment by setting the best example.
• You taught me not to sweat the little stuff when I broke the jeep brake cylinder trying to learn more about how cars work.
• You taught me how entertaining a person can be by being the host at the Troop 8 awards night.  I don't think I laughed so hard.
• You helped me with college calculus and understood when engineering was too much for me. 
• Two things you said that have had a profound effect on my life:  "It is better to be a vice president than a president." and "Teaching is a dead-end job."
• Your timely assistance on my research paper during LEDC set me on course. I graduated with honors! 
•  You supported me in my first attempt at marriage (but I sensed you knew the outcome) and I never heard the words I told you so.
• You taught me to "think" by using word association in the 6th grade when I learned the entire presidential cabinet.  I received an "E" for excellence on the test. 
• You taught me patience by untying the tangled mess I would make with my fishing line while fishing at the lake in Sussex near the bungalow.
• You showed me how to love the person you marry. 
• I only saw you cry twice, once when you banged your head on the window on the back porch in Ridgewood and once when Grandpa Taylor died.
• You taught me there is more to life than riding a bus 3 hours a day to and from New York City.
•  You built character in me by getting me up at 4:00 AM to go ice fishing or deep sea fishing.  I think the pickerel and mackerel (36 each) would agree. 
• You understood the importance and value that Boy Scouting would have on my life. Because of you and mom I achieved the rank of Eagle! 
•  You taught me humor by keeping the 5 of us laughing at your jokes at the dinner table.
• You taught me how to appreciate life when we cooked a cut throat trout on a stick at 11,000 feet in the Rawah wilderness.
• You always enjoyed the gifts us kids would get when you returned from a business trip. 
• You taught me not to be afraid when you danced on stage during the Dad's Night at Somerville Elementary School. 
•  You taught me it is better to give than receive when you and mom would invite the Hope Street neighbors to our 'Open House' each year.
•  You taught me how to tolerate my sisters when we would come home from a hunting trip and they would ask "Did you CATCH anything?"

Your Son