I was assigned to speak of someone who is very important to me. The first person that came to my mind is my dad. My dad is my hero and is the greatest example in my life. My dad has taught me many life lessons and has influenced me in many ways. I feel like he is a big part of who I am today.
As a child, I remember my dad always helping me learn, whether it was learning a new skill, or helping me with my homework. Recently, while watching family home videos, I witnessed my dad trying to teach me to ride a tricycle when I was about 2 years old. He sat there patiently teaching me that to make the bike go, I must push on the pedal with my foot. As he explained this, he put his hand over my foot and gave it a little nudge to show me how it goes. Not really getting the concept, I too put my hand on my foot and let out a grunting noise as I was trying to push my foot just like he did. After a couple of times trying to explain this to me, he threw his hands up in the air, chuckling a little bit, and walked away. After a minute or two, he was back helping me again and encouraging me.
I had a similar experience 5 years later when I was learning how to ride a bike. My dad would walk beside me holding on to the back of my seat and patiently give me instructions. I was really nervous to ride my bike for the first time, and insisted that he keep his hand on my seat at all times. Because he was offering me words of encouragement, I started pedaling faster. My dad now had to run to keep up with me, and I was feeling pretty good. Well, that is until I saw both of his hands swinging by his side. Now realizing I was on my own, I was scared, and me and my bike came crashing down to the ground. He picked me up, brushed me off, wiped my tears, and put me right back on my bike again letting me know that I had been riding without his help for a while and that he believed in me.
I'm sure my dad was very relieved when I finally learned how to ride a bike. Little did he know, that when I turned 16, I would now have to learn how to ride a unicycle. Needless to say, my dad was right there beside me cheering me on and giving me helpful tips even though he had never rode a unicycle before. I am so grateful that my dad has never given up on me and is so supportive in everything I do.
As you can tell from the story, my dad has a lot of patience. This is just one of his many great qualities. Even though he has taught me many talents and skills throughout my life, I learn more from his example and the many wonderful qualities that he has. I could probably spend all day telling you about all the many things I have learned from his example, but I will only name a few..
My dad is very hardworking. You can always find him doing something productive, even if it means he is sacrificing something he would rather be doing. For example, One day, my dad was cleaning out a basement closet, and at the same time, a BYU football game was on. He had the tv blasting so loud from the living room so that he could still hear the game from the closet. He would race back to the living room when he heard a lot of commotion, start yelling, and run back to the closet to work. I remember countless times when my mom would tell him, “its time to stop working”, or “just sit down and enjoy the game.” My dad always puts his best into his work. He has taught me that hard-work pays off, and that you have to work hard to accomplish the things you want in life.
Even though my dad spends a lot of time working, he also knows how to have fun. My dad always had time to play with us when we were younger, no matter how busy he was. When we had first moved into our house in Vernal, my dad spent a long day hooking up our sprinkler system. I remember clearly the time he finally got the sprinklers working. He turned to my sisters and I and told us to go get our swim suits on so that we could run through the sprinklers. There was no grass, just pure mud, I am sure we made a huge mess, but we had so much fun together. My dad has such a fun personality. He is always telling jokes and always has something clever to say, or at least he thinks he does. Sometimes his jokes really are funny, but other times, I can't help but laugh because they weren't funny at all. Either way, he is always finding ways to make brighten people's day with a smile or a laugh. I love this quality about my dad because he always finds a way to make me laugh, even if I don't feel like smiling. He has taught me to look for the good in every situation, and learn to have fun with life.
My dad is also very compassionate and kind. He has a special way of making everyone feel special and loved. I love the way he makes everyone who visits our home feel so welcome. My friends always comment on how he makes them feel like part of the family. He is also so kind and so willing to serve others. He is always offering his help to our family, neighbors, friends, or even complete strangers, and would gladly drop whatever he is doing to do so. He finds so much joy in serving others and always does it with the biggest smile on his face. An example that really sticks out in my mind happened a couple years ago in Vegas. We were on our way to a BYU football game, and we were stopped at a red light waiting to get on the freeway. To the left of us, there was a man holding a sign asking for money. As we watched all of the cars in front of us pass the stranger by without giving them any money, a couple of us in the car made a comments that he was probably not really a bum, and was just using people to get their money. Nonetheless, my dad ignored the comments, and stopped to give the man some money. I have to admit I was really surprised when he did this, because everyone had already agreed that he was probably a fake. I then realized that my dad wasn't thinking that at all. He lovingly gave the man money because he was so compassionate. To this day, I don't know what the man did with the money, but I realize that the lesson I learned is far more valuable than what money can buy. I'm so grateful for the loving example my dad shared with all of us that day.
I could honestly go on all day about the wonderful qualities about my dad that make him so dear to me, but for the purposes of this speech, I should probably stop. I love my dad for the wonderful person that he is. I am so grateful for his example in my life and the way he teaches me the most important lessons without even knowing it. There are so many reasons that he is the person I admire most in my life, and though I can't share them all, I am so grateful he is a part of who I am today.
Happy Fathers day DADDY! I love you so much! Oh, and I guess I should give a shout out to my wonderful and beautiful mom too. She is AMAZING! She always claims that Dad is the way he is because she trained him from the same book she trained her dog... HAHA Oh how I love them!
