I remember wearing my dad’s work boots when I was a little kid. The tops his boots came to my knees. I clopped around the house carrying his big lunch box which I had filled with Little Debbie’s Snack Cakes telling people that I was going to work. I could barely stand up in dad’s boots. My dad taught me to work hard. He was a telephone lineman and I can remember times when the phone would ring in the middle of the night. A storm had brought down the lines on some windy ridge and dad would be called out with his partner to restore service. In the days before mobile phones a downed line could be a matter of life and death for people with health issues. As I began to grow I became obsessed with the day I would be as tall as dad. I would beg him to stand back to back with me so mom could compare our height. It was dad who first taught me hunt. I can still see him knelt down on the old logging road pointing out the difference between buck and doe tracks. As the years passed my dad imparted a lot of the attributes that make me who I am today. And, even though I’m several inches taller than he is I still can’t fill his shoes.

Happy Father’s Day! 🙂 I don’t know if we can ever be fully like the people we love, admire and respect but we can live a life aligned with their wisdom and philosophy. And try our best, I’m sure you’re dad would be proud of you.
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He is. I still have my dad. He’s the last of his family and has assumed the roll of patriarch well. In fact some of my friends that I grew up with were the children of a single mother and they all called him dad too.
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Sounds like a lovely father. My parents are divorced and though I really wanted a complete family when I was younger, I don’t feel the need for a father now and I’m glad.
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Love the story and the metaphor in the end. He raised you well 💯
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Thank you Apple Rae ❤
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