Sunday, June 15, 2014

Happy Father's Day, Dad! Week 24 of 2014

It's a great day...and one that is appreciated far more now that I'm in "senior" status.  While I, too, think about Dad on a regular basis, my admiration grows with each day.  We Smith kids are so very blessed with the love and dedication of our parents and the ability to pass it on to our children and grandchildren.   Thanks, Dad, for your guidance, your love of life approach that included making almost anything fun, sincerely loving people for who they are, and for teaching us about the love of God through his son, Jesus. We didn't always appreciate the Sunday mornings of worship and Sunday School or the return trip to town on Sunday evening for MYF.  Oh, it was fine, once we got there.  But I know I didn't always want to be there.  Today I understand the part about rearing a child in the way they should go.  Thank you, thank you for your love of God and the importance of sharing it with your children.

I think I can answer a couple of questions from Jan's Father's Day post...

It was Pickerel Lake at Vanderbilt.  I sure don't remember it being a State Park at that time.  I'm sure it was a state forest campground, but our most favorite spot to camp, including the nightly trek to the "power line" road to watch for elk.  Pajamas, treats and some patience along with alot of "Shhhhhh's" occasionally resulted in a spotting of the large animals. How Mom and Dad hauled a bunch of kids to a clearing and got us to sit reasonably quiet is beyond me!

I remember the Orchard Beach State Park (Ludington), camping in an orchard, a beautiful pavilion that had a Saturday night dance, Janet getting lost and hearing all the adults talking about the death of Marilyn Monroe (August 5, 1962) on Sunday morning.  Suddenly, the Saturday hunt for Jan was old news...and everyone was buying the Detroit Free Press for the details of the glamorous movie star's demise.

I also remember the camping spot south of Saugatuck for very different reasons.  It was actually the Allegan State Game Area.  It turned out to be the only time Dad and Mom resolved never to return and actually called in a complaint and followed that with a written letter.  It had the stinkiest, most foul outhouses of anywhere...ever.  Mom and Dad often laughed about how bad it was and in all their years of camping, there was never a situation that was anything close to it.  We had the tent all set up and it was just too much to move....and we had made reservations there, so we stayed.  But we left early the next morning and went to breakfast at Kellogg's in Battle Creek, MI.  It was only a short drive, it smelled much better and we were thrilled to get ice cream sundaes with cocoa krispies on top for a treat.

SO...thanks again, Dad, for all the good times and for the not so good ones, too.  All of it makes us what we are today...very blessed to have you for our Father!  Love you!

1 comment:

  1. So glad the more senior sister could remember the details that I could not! Thanks for filling in the blanks!

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