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Thanks, Everyone!
By JLP | March 9, 2008
The outpouring of love for me and my family following the loss of my dad has been nothing short of amazing.
The funeral was last Thursday. The church we used had set up 300 chairs and I think all 300 were filled. My sister, brother, and I all spoke at the funeral. I choked out the following stories about an experience I had with my dad:
THE FIRST STORY
When I was a kid I had a lawn mowing business. One particular job I had was cutting the grass for a vacant house. The yard hadn’t been cut in months and the grass was at least a foot tall. To make the job easier, I enlisted the help of my cousin. This was a mistake because my cousin and I were a couple of idiots when we were together. Anyway, the grass was too tall to bag it using the lawnmower so we had to cut it and then rake and bag the grass by hand. My cousin and I worked and worked until the grass was cut.
We then raked up the grass into lots of little piles all over the yard, which we were then going to put in trash bags. We were doing just that when we decided to leave the piles like they were since the wind would blow them away. LOL! So, we picked up our stuff and went home leaving all these piles of grass all over the yard. Job done, case closed.
Wrong!
Later than night I went to eat dinner at the Pizza Hut with my family. On the way home, my dad said he wanted to see the job me and my cousin had done. I was like, “uh…. okay….” Well, we drove by the house and my dad saw all those piles and grass and he was less than happy. We took the rest of the family home and my dad and Iwent back to the house and he and I raked and bagged up every last piece of grass and then my dad told me something that stuck with me forever:
“Don’t you EVER do a crappy job like this again. When you are paid to do something for someone, you DO IT RIGHT! NO EXCUSES!”
Guess what…
I NEVER did a crappy job again!
THE SECOND STORY
My dad always thought this blog was cool. I used to talk to him about story ideas and about how my blog was progressing. He was always interested in hearing about that kind of stuff.
When he turned 60, I wrote him a happy birthday post. I called him to tell him to check it out. He thought it was really cool the way I included hyperlinks in the post.
I had no idea how much he thought of that post.
The other night my mom and I were looking through one of dad’s dresser drawers that contained all the stuff that was important to him. The drawer mostly contained his pocket knife and coin collection. However, folded up neatly among his pocket knife boxes was a print out of that happy birthday post. My dad had thought enough of that post to print it out and put it with his “valuables.”
The realization that he is gone hasn’t really settled in yet. I still can’t believe it.
My mom will be okay. My brother and sister live close by and will be there to help out. Her finances will be a little tight as she is still paying off some dad’s medical bills. They had health insurance but their policy didn’t cover a lot of the treatments they used. I’m a little hesitant to do this (because I don’t like asking for help) but if you would like to make a donation to help my mom out, you can click on the donation button located on the right sidebar. I titled the button “JLP’s Mom,” which should show up in the purpose box. I’ll forward all contributions to her.
Anyway, I do want to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers during this time. I’m very thankful for all of you.
Topics: Miscellaneous | 8 Comments »
March 9th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
I’m crying big man-tears after reading that second story…
March 9th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
Since my dad died a few weeks ago, I’ve had a renewed faith in people. Like you, the support I received was absolutely amazing! In my last blog post, I mentioned that I would be learning from my dad for the rest of my life…
March 9th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Man, that really got to me… the second story. It’s funny, the little things we cherish.
March 9th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Got choked up when I read that second story, as well. It sounds like your dad was a great guy and a wonderful role model, deepest sympathies.
@Kevin – I’m sorry for your loss.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Good stuff JLP. I’ll pray for you and your family.
March 9th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Great to read your post ,
Thanks ,,
Tracy Ho
wisdomgettingloaded
March 10th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
JLP, I’m just getting caught up on reading blogs, and was saddened to hear this news. You and your family are in my prayers
DB
March 14th, 2008 at 1:50 am
I am sorry to hear of your loss – my condolences to you and your family