Daddy-O

I'm daddy's little girl at heart, he gives me money, buys me chocolate (won't get me a cat though!), fixes Rosie when she's broke, gets Rosie washed when she's dirty, basically does everything when it comes to my car actually...he lets me come into work late on occasion (also makes me come into work on my day off too so I guess we end up even), changes the light bulbs in my room (eventually) and kills spiders.

He also spoils me pretty much rotten.

He has this way with people though...he's a master salesman, he can sell ice to an eskimo as my mum used to say and he just makes friends everywhere. Everywhere and anywhere my dad can find a friend who's useful. Not as in he uses these people he befriends, it's a give-take type thing, sometimes he ends out on top, sometimes he doesn't. But he always makes friends, everywhere he goes he knows people's names - the Casino, the coffee shop up the road, the general store, the newsagent, he used to have stores in shopping centres and he knew the guys down the road in the shoe place, and the lady at the cafe 'round the corner. They know him too, say hi, make his drink the second the see him coming in and maybe it's just part of being a regular but I think it'd take me months to have that kind of relationship with people that he seems to form in weeks.

I envy him 'cause I just can't do that. My brother, my sister, they have that way with people, not so much as dad but they're only young too so we can maybe chalk it up to experience. Mum and I...we are so not people people...somehow I got that part from mum while my siblings got this ability to just connect with people from dad. I'm shy and quiet with strangers and going up and talking to someone randomly is about as terrifying as jumping off a cliff. I'm a lot better at it since Uni but still I'm not good with meeting new people, which kind of scares me when it comes to travelling, people say travelling is all about meeting new people and I'm no good at that!

But at the same time, he annoys the crap out of the people close to him. He does things just to annoy you, on purpose, just because he knows they annoy you. And for the most part you can take it but, like anything, sometimes you just snap.

I've come to respect him far more, partially (I think) because my above mentioned siblings showed him so little respect. He has come a long way from the little boy who couldn't speak English when he started school. He got a trade, earned money, started his own business, ran it successfully for over 20 years before the market capitulated and he had to start all over again in a completely different industry. He sent his 3 children to private schools, bought a house (on which there's still a mortgage but we've recently a) started a new business and b) renovated), always had nice cars, we have an exuberant number of TVs and by exuberant I mean one for each member of our household when only one of us actually watches TV on a regular basis. We've never struggled for money or had to cut corners, I didn't get everything I ever wanted but I didn't want for anything either.

Dad knows his stuff too (as long as it's not to do with technology) and I'd do well to listen to the wisdom he has to impart and I have learned a lot over the past 10 months both through his teaching and through the opportunities he's given me.

Thanks Daddy, for everything you've done, do and will do for me in the future.
I love you.

Happy Fathers Day