Father of the Year!

On Thursday morning (my court date) I woke up and just happened to hear while I was between the stage of being asleep and actually being conscience that there was a Father's Day contest happening for Father of the Year. The rules were simple, send in a "description" of your Dad of 50 words or less - and the deadline was that afternoon.

Wow, I've got to do that...man, I've got to get up, get ready and get downstairs to get something typed and send it in - after all someone's got to win! Who cares about what the prize is...

So, I get up and begin getting dressed and ready to head to court. All the while, thinking about what to write. 50 words isn't much to describe two decades of memories, but I knew if I was creative he might have shot!

By the time I got downstairs and on the computer, I literally had like two minutes to think of something, get the right address imputed, and type. That's not long for how creative I need to get, as there would be hundreds - if not thousands - of highly qualified entries.

I type in what's in my heart (that's the best words, right?), check it for spelling errors. Not even having time to count to make sure I'm under 50 words. And not really re-reading it. Just sending it in with a prayer.

On Friday morning, the one morning this week we were able to actually sleep in, Mom wakes up to the phone ringing. It's the radio station telling, informing Mom that Dad had won the Father of the Year and asked to speak to him (now, we know the main DJ, the one who called, so it was funny because we haven't talked to him in forever and Mom was like, "Hey! It's Lisa..."). Dad's asleep and he takes like 30 minutes to wake up - like, taking a shower, getting dressed, eating breakfast long!

Mom starts nudging Dad, "David, you've won some contest, they need to talk to you!" He groggly gets up and starts talking!

Well, she runs into my room (where I'm sleeping with Granny Duh) and shakes me awake. "Maegan, Dad's won some kind of contest...what did you do?"

"No, he didn't!"

"Yes, he did! Now, what did he win?"

"Tell me he didn't!" I mumble again.

"He won...what is it?"

"I think," I begin, "he gets a dinner somwhere and something else." Remember, I hadn't even heard the prizes. Just decided on a whim to enter him.

"Is he going to be on the radio? Like, they are talking to him and he's half-asleep. You know how he is!"

"Yes! He'll be on the radio! They are recording him!"

I jump up and we both run into where he's walking around trying to wake up while talking to the DJ. You can tell he hasn't sounded very "enthusiastic" the entire conversation, so Mom mouths, "You'll be on the radio! They are recording!"

At that point, the DJ had asked for our address - obviously, they are not going to play that part on the air. But Dad starts giving our address with a new tone, a very upbeat, very dramatic tone! We busted out laughing at his sudden change, but it was too late to do anything! They had him recorded and it was done!

I run to wake the other two girls up. We have a family gathering around the radio in my room - piled on my bed and around in the floor. T's still in la-la land, sitting on the side of the bed. Well, I look up and she's just falling off the bed. No grunt, no yell, no reaction. She just hits with a thud as we stare stunned, then break out laughing as she sits up and smiles. She's definitely awake now! LOL

It was just a great morning, and an honor I think my Dad deserves. I'm just a little partial, but I honestly think I have one of the absolute best Dads in the entire world! I haven't met another man I would be willing to take his place.

What he did win was a dinner for two, a CD, 4 tickets for a theme park, and a night away! But the biggest honor for me was he did get the title Father of the Year!

Now, for my entry. I don't feel it's anything special or anything magnificant. Just words that seemed to flow from my heart about my Dad!


My first and one of the purest memories of my Dad is when I was 2 and in the hospital and having to stay in a "tent." My parents didn't have much and had another baby, my little sister, who had to stay with my grandparents. But I remember my Dad would work so incredibly hard at his job, then he'd drop by the dollar store get me a few toys to make my stay a little nicer - then he'd take the time to play with me! I get tears in my eyes thinking about how giving and selfless my Dad was during that period of time. My Dad has proven to be a man just like that over the years, hard-working, selfless, honorable, honest, and always thinking of others. He lost his father to cancer in March, and I'd love for him to be able to get away and have something to distract him as the only way we can get him to relax and really take a breather is to get him away from everything!

Love you, Dad!!!