Happy Birthday!

My dad was rough around the edges and swore way too much for his own good. He was a salt of the earth Albertan, voted Conservative and could drink a 20 year old under the table. What most people didn’t know about my dad was that he had a big heart, especially when it came to me. I was his sweetheart and he made sure that I knew that every single day. When he went into the hospital after suffering a stroke, one of the first things that I missed was him standing on our second floor balcony waving goodbye every morning as I drove off to work. When I drive past the old house now, I can still see him there, waving and smiling his big toothy grin.


Today is his birthday, he would have been 95 yrs old. So in honour of today, I am going to share with you some things that I think made him truly special. I think he would like that very much.


One of my earliest memories was of my fifth birthday. As many of you know, I was born in January and lived in Pemberton, so that meant snow… and by snow, I mean 6 feet of snow. My mother broke the bad news to me: no one could leave their houses because the roads were so bad, so my birthday party would have to be cancelled. I cried and cried and cried. As you can tell, I was a drama queen from a very young age!

Our Caterpillar

So my father devised a plan: He would take out our Caterpillar and pick up every single one of my little friends so I could have a proper birthday party. As you can see from the picture, there is a little cabin at the top of the Caterpillar and he would have to sit the child on his lap (it was the early 70’s- no one used seatbelts!) and drive them back to our ranch house one at a time. There were at least ten children, so he made ten trips out into the snow covered valley- twenty with the return trip. Needless to say, even at five, I knew he had done something incredibly special for me. I was a spoiled little girl to say the least.


He lived a big gorgeous life. He made big mistakes but he also loved big too. He loved Pakistan and India where he lived for several years, loved dessert (especially homemade rhubarb pie), Sex and the City (he actually introduced me to the show!) and old British comedies. He was a man’s man- he loved the ladies (!!), fished, camped, hunted and served in WWII but when it came to me…I always knew that he was in my corner and that I was the one he loved the most. And that is what every girl deserves from her father.


I love you my darling Daddy. I hope you are having a HUGE birthday party in heaven. I can just imagine it now…