Our Dad Jim

 

Guess I am thinking of my dad this month more as January 26th was his birthday.  Here is a picture of his first love in life - cycling.  He gave it up for my mother as she asked and he could refuse her nothing.  He did get to pick it up later in life in the role of an official which fill that missing piece.  

Dad loved fishing, football, not soccer, even though he came from England.  He loved the NFL, his team was the Cleveland Browns.  His team for the NHL was the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Which is why I think I would cheer for the Montreal Canadiens, just to be different.  

 Dad took us to church every Sunday and switched from church of England to Roman Catholic, another thing Mom asked.  He didn't seem to mind.  

Dad was a builder of the most beautiful homes eventually drawing up the plans himself too.  He could make furniture from scratch as well and would do the figuring out of measurements in his head.  He would downplay how smart he was because he didn't read a lot but I think he didn't realize that his figuring things out was something that not everyone could do.  

Dad loved his family and told his daughters that there was nothing that they couldn't do if they put their mind to it.  

He was quiet and didn't talk about personal stuff but then that was what men did, worked hard and kept strong but you knew you were loved.  

He struggled when we were teenagers because teenage girls were just a bit beyond his understanding but he did try.  He past away at the age of 70 which was just too soon and very sad but I choose to remember all the fun and good times, his building of our tree house and other wooden toys like a garage for our toy cars.  

His name was James Michael but growing up he was called Mickey because his dad was called Jim.  Once he came to Canada he was always known as Jim and no one called him Mickey anymore.  

Miss you Dad.