When I was a young girl, I can recall a day when I watched my father slowly walk up and down our long country driveway methodically bending down, standing up, bending down, standing up, and so on. I watched for a while from our storm door as it lightly rained and tried to figure out what it was he was doing. But, being curious, that didn’t last for long before I pushed open the door and walked (barefoot probably) down the driveway to where my daddy was. “What are you doing?”, I asked while he continued with his task. He stopped briefly, “I’m picking up worms” he said, as he bent down again and picked a large earthworm off the asphalt and tossed it back onto the yard. I remember trying to register this on my own, but ultimately having to inquire as to why on Earth he was doing this. He went on to explain that their lives would not be long for this world on the driveway. They would meet their end by car tire, or blistering sun at some point. But back on the grass they were safe. Meanwhile, of course, I had begun aiding in the worm rescue, even before knowing why. After all, my father was a science teacher and there fore knew everything about anything as far as I was concerned! But there were a lot of worms! In fact, for every one I saved, I’d see two more!  It all felt a little pointless as I said, “There’s too many, it’s not making any difference”. “Well,” he paused and threw another worm through the air and onto the grass nearby, “we made a difference to that one.”

There are easily dozens and dozens of stories I could share about my father, but they all have a similar theme; goodness. He has been my moral compass both as a child and now as an adult. His kindness and patience exceeds that of any other human being I know, and because of this and his endless love for his family, I can easily say that I won the daddy lottery! It is also no surprise that as I got older and looked for my own partner in life that my expectations were set very high. Because of this I was able to marry a man that not only proved to be an amazing husband, but the best father to our little girl that I could ever have asked for. So thank you daddy. Thank you for teaching me how to love all things great and small, for showing me what it means to be a good husband and father, for laughing at our inside jokes, for wheel barrow rides and true childhood magic that I carry on with my own daughter. And thank you, on behalf of all worms, for making a difference.

Happy Father’s Day.