Happy Birthday Dad

Today is my father's 82nd birthday. I've missed being at a family birthday dinner for him. The plans all fell together within the last week and living 14 hours away made it impossible to be there.

Typically the birthday boy receives gifts, but I'd like to share some of the gifts my father has given me.

The gift of Wal-Mart. This actually means the gift of wise investing--find a good company that you believe in, support it like crazy, and stick with it. He's done this with other companies as well but Wal-Mart sticks out. We knew to refer to a competitor as Bleep-Mart rather than use the letter at the beginning of the real name. In fact, I think my nephew thought K-Mart's real name was Bleep-Mart until he could read. Dad has taught us that the market isn't a get rich quick scheme so when you get in, get in for the long haul.

The gift of generosity. My parents have been very generous to us, but many, many people have been recipients of their generosity. My parents home has been open to thousands of people through the years, and I know they have given many anonymous financial gifts. Once when leaving a restaurant I commented about what I thought was a more than generous tip Dad had left. I remember often his words: In a couple of hours or tomorrow I won't know the difference in giving a few extra dollars in a tip, but a bigger than normal tip for that server may mean the difference in her day.

The gift of work. I have many, many memories of spending time at church and school with Dad as he showed how to mow a yard to look nice and not just get the grass cut. The church had a mower that would die if you tried to mow a too thick patch. He came out once to restart the mower for me, but after that it was "Why did you slug it???" He also showed me how to paint and stain. Every painting project I've done I've put into practice his advice for taking care of the equipment and how to paint well. Yesterday I helped a friend by priming several walls at her house. When she commented how neatly I paint, I just thought, "Well, it's how my dad taught me."

The gift of buck-up. OK, I really don't naturally think of this as a gift because a gift should be pleasurable and nice, but reality is that it is a gift. Through the years when I've called home and needed a little support and just wanted to talk through and complain about life, Dad's comment has been "Well, buck up and you're the person to make it through." I always wanted to say, "Could you put Mom on?" However, the truth is that a lot of life is just bucking up and getting through it. Now I laugh when I hear kids talk about how tough life is and I think, "Oh just buck up. . .."

My dad has been known by many names: Lynn, Dad, Papa, K-daddy, Daddy-K, Bro. Lynn, Mr. Klopfenstein, Lynn Kaye, Lynny-Boy, Uncle Lynn, Lim, and even Punky. However, the most important name he has is Child of God. Over 56 years ago Dad gave his life to Jesus Christ and became Child of God. There is no doubt that he loves God, desires to serve Him, and has been promised an eternity in Heaven with his heavenly Father. And that Dad, is the greatest gift you can give a child.