Halling Go To Alaska

Today my heart is sad.  And that's an understatement.  Today brings with it a reality that I know I will have to face but I selfishly hope it is a long time from now.  I've written on a couple of occasions about my dad.  I can't say enough good things about his honor and integrity.  I've even lambasted him for raising me to believe that all people had common sense.  Because that is who is he is.  Logical yet loving.  Strong but always willing to hand out a hug or open his door/answer the phone to any request big or small that I've needed help with over the years.  He set the bar high for all other men in my life.  Luckily T does a pretty job keeping up. :) But I know of another dad who has been equally awesome to his daughter.  Another dad who won't be there anymore to answer the phone and provide the unconditional love and support he always has.  I feel honored to have met and spent time with him.  He had a heart that wa...

When I was a kid my dad drove a beat up old Datsun pickup truck, green, with a camper shell.  It was a 1971.  I only remember that because that was the year my parents were married.  But they didn't buy that truck new.  He bought it in '73, I think.  My dad drove that truck until close to 1990 if not just passed that point.  My brother and I traveled cross country more times than I can remember in the back of that truck with a camper shell on it.  When it came time to retire the pickup, did he take it to the junk yard? Sell it for parts?  Nope, my dad had the cab lopped off and turned the bed into a trailer. The lawn mower he had when I was growing up never had the switch to turn it on - well at least I never remember it having an actual switch.  You had to turn the teeny, tiny switch down by the motor before you would yank on that cord as hard as you could praying it would turn over so you could mow the lawn for $5 a week.  Hey, that wa...

When I was a child I trusted in my dad 100%.  I always felt that he had things under control.  I knew that if he was around everything was going to be fine.  He never showed any frustration or worry.  At least not that I ever saw.  I think the first time I saw him flustered and nervous about something was when I was 10.  We were living in Guam at the time and were on a 15-day tour through China.  We were in one of the smaller cities at the airport waiting for our flight.  It was overbooked and our tour guide had to do some finagling to get everyone in our tour a boarding pass.  (Of course I didn't know this at the time.)  I begged my dad to let me hold my boarding pass.  I was obviously capable; I was 10 after all and had been on more planes than I could count.  He relented and when it came time to board I couldn't find my boarding pass.  I told my dad and this look crossed his face.  I can't describe it other than fe...