June 19, 2010

My Dad

I've never doubted that God knew exactly what He
was doing when He gave me the father that He did.
He couldn't have found a better one for me.

Dad and I at the Father/Daughter retreat in 2008.

We are alike in so many ways, it's kind of funny.
We both can be people of few words,
and that works fine for us.
We can almost have an entire conversation with just
facial expressions.
(Short conversations...)

We both have a very dry sense of humor,
and are likely to see it when no one else does.

Dad never gets lost. Ever.
Well, there was that one time in Boston;
but that was it.
All he needs is a map; and sometimes not even that.
I'm happy to say he passed his directional skills on;
the only thing that intimidates me about maps
is getting them folded again.

And, we both have a bit of a crazy side.
We're roller coaster buddies;
they make us laugh until we cry.
When it comes to flying, we agree on everything.
We love it.
While some may take Dramamine and close their eyes,
we just grin like Cheshire cats;
especially during take-offs and landings.
We like feeling those "G's."

That brings me to the second portion of this post.

A trio of P-51 Mustangs

Dad and I just celebrated a yearly tradition.
The Air Show.

Thanks to Dad's line of work,
(which includes lots of military aircraft),
going to the Air Show is not only a lot of fun,
but very educational as well.
He tells me everything he knows,
and I love hearing about it.

Unfortunately, we both missed our favorite part
for this year's show - the F-18...
We aren't as big on the old War Birds,
though we appreciate them for Grandpa's sake.
We like the loud and noisy jets best.
The F-22 is almost as good as it gets.

But- I was pretty happy to see the A-10,
I've loved them ever since 2003.
I'll never forget visiting my sister on an AFB
in Germany, and watching the A-10's
and F-16's depart for Iraq.

The Air Force Heritage Flight - an A-10 and two P-51's

The A-10 always brings back good memories,
even if it isn't the loudest one out there.

Another view of the Heritage Flight

They actually had the audacity to cancel the B-2 flyover.
But we lived, we went home early,
and we didn't get sun burnt for once.

Joe had been helping out with his CAP squadron
during the show, so we went and found him.

While Joe was talking,
I was sneaking photos of his boots.
Well, I was actually listening too--multi-tasking.

Thanks for putting up with all of this girls. :)

Happy Father's Day Dad,
I love you!

5 comments:

Mary Ruth Pursselley said...

A-10s rock! I live just a couple hours away from an AFB, and A-10s used to buzz our house. No, they're not the loudest, and not the fastest, but absolutely the coolest in my opinion!
Just so you know, I have no objections to more posts like this ; )

Dad said...

To my wonderful daughter,

Thank you for the thoughtful post for Father’s Day. I praise God for what he has done and is doing in your life. You are a treasure from God and I’m blessed to be a part of your life.

Love,
Dad

Kkly said...

Love your air show photos, and how you caught the clouds behind them.
I've always wanted to go to an air show; I really enjoyed how you described it!

Kristina said...

Awww, I miss that airshow.....many good memories. We do have a nice one down here though thanks to the huge Air Force bases that are in this area. In fact I think the airshow would be a great excuse for an O. family visit to TX....it's in November :)

Michael and I were just talking the other day about how we cannot help smiling whenever we feel a plane lift off underneath us. That has to be one of the most awesome feelings in the world. Being Fowls we just can't help love flying and everything about it :) Whenever I hear that familiar roar, I still can't help running outside to see what it is. These days it's usually T-38s from Randolph AFB, training the next generation of pilots.

One day soon I still want to fulfill my long-time dream of skydiving. You should come join me!

What a great post, Kate! You do have a great dad!

~Kristina

Kate said...

You know what - - it sounds like a really good excuse to me. :) We'll have to seriously consider that... I have to agree, take-offs are incredible. I think the attraction to roller coasters must have some kind of connection there. :) And there's nothing in the world quite like that sound. I'm kind of glad I don't live too near any AFBs - I probably wouldn't get anything done inside! :)

Hmm. I'll definitely have to see what's on the calendar for November... Maybe we can squeeze some sky diving in there too. :)
Love,
Kate