Father's Day weekend was left WIDE Open for Keith. When it came right down to it, what he opted to spend his WIDE Open weekend doing was building a bar for our backyard. He moved the cars out of the garage, dusted off his tool belt, reacquainted himself with some old buddies (the welder, the chop saw, the sander, etc) and went to work. He worked long hard hours and he didn't quit until Mother Nature blew down on him and rained on his parade.
For some Fathers, this may sound like torture. This may sound like the worst possible way to spend Father's Day. To Keith, it was a dream come true and a perfect way to re-charge his man-battery. It was also a perfect way for him to showcase his skills with a piece of work that he's proud of and be a true example to the boys of practice, skill, talent, persistence and hard work.
Down to the finest detail, he got every angle right and every edge smooth. He worked long hours without breaks or complaints. He brought Oliver and Kellan along for age appropriate parts of the ride and taught them what he knew and explained what he was doing. Oliver and Kellan helped here and there and at the end of the day, they saw their Daddy working hard and the hard work paying off. At one point, Keith listed all of the things that Oliver would have to learn over the years like wood working, welding and auto mechanics and Oliver responded "oh man, that's going to be a lot". Yes, it will be a lot and by the time Oliver and Kellan are men, they will have these skills too.
These skills may be something that I have taken for granted. My Dad was a handy man. He developed the property that I grew up on, built fences, buildings, brought in our winter wood and worked from dawn until dark. I can still smell the cut wood either from projects or pine trees and having that smell in our garage brought back all of those memories. He always had my brothers working with him and often several of my uncles. He taught them what he knew and now they too have those skills. Keith tells of similar times of working alongside his Dad and his Grand Dad and that this is where he learned these skills; from the men who came before him.
As we live more of a city life now, I am coming to realize that these skills don't necessarily come natural, but they are taught. They say that a girl will marry someone just like her Dad. Growing up I would think "EWWW" to that thought because why on earth would I ever want to do that? Now I know, that's exactly what I did. Without knowing it, I married someone who could develop our property, mend our fences, built what's needed and if I didn't insist on having a gas fireplace instead of wood, he would bring in the winter wood as well.
I'm thankful for Keith and the man and father that he is for this family.
I'm thankful for his Dad and Grand Dad for shaping him into the caring, loving and handy man that he has become.
I'm thankful for my Dad, who without knowing it, taught me exactly what I needed and wanted in a husband and father for our children. Someone exactly like him.
Happy Fathers Day to Keith, the most amazing Handy Man a girl could dream of.
Happy Fathers Day to Keith's Father, who passed down the knowledge and skills to be a caring, loving and handy man.
Happy Father's Day to my Father, who taught me how to know that caring and loving handy man when I saw him and how to reel him in for the big catch.
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