Reflections on my Dad

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there! I hope you are spoiled rotten today!

My Dad is amazing. I don't often tell him that, but he is. Two years ago he was in a serious accident, I didn't share it on my blog. He fell off a ladder and hit his head on concrete. We almost lost him and we are very lucky that he wasn't working alone that day. Luckily, we didn't lose him that day and his recovery was long journey. However for the simple outspoken remarks that he makes, he is pretty much back to normal. No more ladders for him.

My Dad is one of those that heard of the "American Dream" as a young boy growing up in Ireland in the 1950 and 60. He came out in 1964 with a few pennies to his name after working in England for a few years. He stayed with his Uncle and Aunt who had moved over here in the late 1930 early 1940. My father is a carpenter. That embarrassed me as a kid for reasons unknown.

My father worked hard, often 6 days a week as construction carpenter and doing his own work on the weekends. I remember going over to investment property cleaning out yards and doing the weeding. I used to tell my father that this was "slave labor" but my father would say work hard and you will never having to worry about putting food in your mouth.


As I have previously shared my mom was primarily a stay at home mom, my father wanted her to stay home. She took care of the finances as my father to this day has doesn't write check or handle the day to day money. He simply handed over his pay to her. They will be married 40 years next year. They were able to raise 3 kids with values and a good money sense. While we didn't hear about money a lot, I knew my parents were well off. We did the trip back to Ireland every 2-3 years to visit his family, my parents were able to build a vacation home, and send 3 children to college.

My father is also the type slip me a $20 to buy something for the kids. He still works the occasional job and has done a lot of work for us over the years on our house. We has worked with my husband putting a new roof on, new siding, windows, and many other smaller jobs. He has taught my husband a lot of home repairs and has saved us thousands in labor cost. He won't accept a dime, but occasional lunch out at his favorite sub shop makes his day.

I love you Dad