happy sixtieth, dad

Dad & McKay, 2005

Today is my Dad's 60th birthday. In honor of this, here are 60 things you should know about my Dad:

1. He was born on a Thursday.
2. His mother's name was Maureen.
3. His father's name was Ted.
4. His given name is William.
5. He goes by Bill.
6. We just call him Dad.
7. He was the oldest of four children.
8. His parents lived in the same house their entire lives - never moving once.
9. He has always been a tease.
10. He met my mother while he was at his girlfriend's house (although she will tell you he doesn't remember this).
11. When he proposed to my mother he was so nervous, he accidentally said the wrong name. She said yes anyway.
12. He was in the coast guard.
13. He was the reason his parents got reactivated in the church.
14. He taught himself computer programming long before anyone knew what that was.
15. He has only had two jobs in the time I have known him (33+ years).
16. He gets red cheeks when he is mad.
17. He wears glasses.
18. He is practically blind without his glasses. I get that from him.
19. He loves to build things with his hands and is very good at it.
20. He has loved to fish his entire life.
21. He has a big, beautiful smile.
22. He used to take me to Daddy/Daughter dances, and would always ring the doorbell like a proper date.
23. He always got me a corsage, too.
24. He even once learned how to square dance with me.
25. He used to tease me as a child that I had "poo" on my nightgown. (It was Winnie the Pooh) and it always made me crazy.
26. He is extremely tall (6'4").
27. He has the thickest head of hair I've ever seen (besides my own).
28. I get my curly hair from him, too.
29. His biggest pet peeve is telephone solicitors.
30. Once as a teenager, I fell and broke my arm while ice skating. When they called to have him come pick me up, he thought they were selling him something and hung up on them before they could tell him what had happened.
31. They eventually called back and got through that they were DEFINITELY not selling something. He picked me up and felt really bad.
32. He used to pull April Fool's jokes on us kids all the time.
33. Like nailing my shoes to the floor.
34. Or setting the alarm to go off at 11 o'clock at night and frantically telling me I'd slept in and was late for school.
35. He makes a mean chipped beef on toast.
36. He calls pancakes "hotcakes," (which sends my kids into fits of giggles every time).
37. He graduated from college when he was 40 years old.
38. When I was in high school, he crossed against a light and got hit by a truck. He was in the hospital for a while, and recovering for months.
39. He is a true gentleman. He still opens the car door for my mother after all these years.
40. When you ask him what he wants for his birthday, he always says, "socks and garments."
41. I make it a point to never buy him either one.
42. He has 11 grandchildren.
43. And one on the way (no, not me).
44. He ADORES his grandchildren.
45. He spends hours pushing them on the swings or digging with them in the sandbox.
46. Yes, on his knees. In the dirt. Every time.
47. He was the Bishop when I got baptized and interviewed me for my baptism, which I thought was pretty darn cool.
48. My kids call him Tickle Monster.
49. He never comes without a present in-hand for the kids.
50. He is the strong, quiet type.
51. He loves the Lord and has served in the church faithfully his entire life.
52. He totally grilled my husband when Josh asked permission to marry me.
53. I never expected him to do that, but felt loved and protected because of it.
54. He is very OCD and likes order and symmetry (yet another trait I can attribute to him).
55. He has helped us move more times than I'd like to admit.
56. And he did it cheerfully every time.
57. He can do anything. I truly believe that.
58. He is a good man.
59. He is my Dad.
60. I'll love him forever.