There was a boy . . .
He was remarkable, special and fabulous in every way . . . by his own admission. That sounds like a pretty smart-alecky remark from his bratty second daughter, doesn’t it, but you know, he’d be the first to tell you that it simply never occurred to him to doubt himself. Teflon ego? Naive puppy? No, he’s just a pretty cool guy and didn’t see any need to worry about it along the way.
People liked him; he liked them back. One thing leading to another, as they always do, he grew up and became, in various turns, a college graduate, a husband, a father, a seminary graduate, university board chairman, bishop, hospital board chairman, and oh yeah, all those other things. You know: the keynote speaker and community activist constantly playing both conscience and jester to the complacent. The nutty uncle who accidentally fades his snappy burgundy deck shoes to a flashy candy-colored light purple that becomes his infamously funny family trademark and then makes them the coveted trophy passed down from one to the next of all his nieces and nephews as they graduate from high school. The pastor who tells wacky tales from the pulpit that actually explicate complex biblical concepts and help to untangle earthly Issues for everyday humans. The bishop who travels with a phalanx of fellow bishops to act as bodyguard for their danger-exiled brother Bishop of El Salvador in Guatemala and escort him safely for a visit to his people at home. The respected administrator who sees a busy hospital through the building of a whole new hospital campus. The husband who woos his ever-tolerant wife with anniversary gifts of snow tires and garden manure but always remembers a card with an actual romantic note to accompany it. The dad who sends excuse notes involving kidnap by Green Gremlins to the principal’s office after his daughter’s flu absence from school.
My father’s stated policy, from a rather early time in his life, was that Anything Worth Doing is Worth Overdoing, and if it was spoken with a jovial wink, it was and yes, still is pretty much his modus operandi, whatever the endeavor. Underachieving was never an option and half-hearted efforts the same as not trying at all. This insight of his came long before the appearance of the modern day’s sloganeering cheerleaders insistence that one Go Big or Go Home.
Dad brought along with him from his earliest years that sense of ease with himself and his place in the world and built it into an expansive view of what he could and should do and what the world could be with a little effort. As much as he indulged his playful and witty side (surely one of his most endearing qualities in his every field of action in life) he has always harbored a tender heart as well. Any practical tendencies of his that might be seen as hardheaded or stoic, serving him excellently in his many leadership roles as they did, were at their root driven by a deeper need to look out for others’ best interests and work to keep his own in check. All of this shapes a man who manages to maintain the unusual duality of a highly accomplished Type A leader and the Class Clown, a rare and gem-like formation indeed.
And today is that remarkable, special and fabulous man’s birthday.
As it happens, he’s right, you know: anything worth doing really is worth doing to the nth degree and then just a little bit more. He didn’t get to be this advanced in age and yet still a ridiculously charming kid just barely beneath the gloss of grown-up-ness without having practiced that art well and truly. Happy birthday, Dad!
Art-Colored Glasses 
how cool. happy birthday kathryn’s Dad! you have a grand and clever daughter! c
Takes one to know one! You can tell your dad the same from me!!!
Wonderful tribute to your father on his birthday…
Happy Day, Kathryn’s dad!
He’s listening in to y’all, so I know he’ll appreciate the message, Marie!
Kathryn, so well written, so touching. Your dad sounds like an amazing man. Happy birthday to him!!
Or as my youngest sister used to say when she was small, “Amazing but True!” And he is both! 😉
Happy Birthday to your dad! Brilliant and touching post!!
Thank you, my dear XB!
Happy birthday to your father!
He must be happy to have such an enthusiastic and thoughtful daughter, what an amazing story!
He has *three* wacky and wonderful daughters. Whether that makes him a lucky guy or Poor Guy, you’ll have to ask him (and it might depend entirely on the occasion)! Thanks for the good wishes, ‘Nessa!
Happy Birthday to your dad; he sounds like one very cool guy indeed. It has always been so obvious to me, from reading your blog, that you believe in the maxim of doing everything really, really well and that you are blessed with great empathy. Now I know it’s in your genes.
I have a *lot* to live up to when it comes to my parents and sisters, believe me, and I’m far from expert at it, but I do believe it’s a lifelong process, so there may be hope for me yet. 🙂 Thanks for your sweet remarks, my dear.
A beautifully written tribute to your Dad, Kathryn. What an accomplished man & wonderful Dad! Well, he’d pretty much have to be in order to rescue you from the much-dreaded Green Goblins.That alone speaks volumes.
It even spoke volumes over the loudspeaker at my school–the principal passed around the note to his staff and then read it over the PA system! My dad, being the big kid that he is, thought that was just the proper response. 🙂
He sounds like quite a man – and what a wonderful birthday tribute to him this is. Happy Birthday Sir!
Yes, he’s one of a kind. What kind, we have not positively determined, but still . . . 😉
Happy Birthday to your dad! He sounds like an AWESOME man!
🙂 Mandy
My family is full of bigger than life characters. Maybe it’s why I had to blog, to try to find a forum for the tales! 😀
I really love reading about good dad’s. To me (sadly) reading about a man like this makes me think of a rare species that is in trouble of extinction. But I got super lucky in the mom department and one of her favorite sayings is “Be the labor great or small, do it right or not at all.” I’m going to tell her to add on to it! Happy Birthday to your dad!
I actually got the Full Set of rare birds. Fantastic parents *and* sisters. *And* in-laws, for that matter. So they’re not extinct yet! Your mom sounds fabulous, but then she’d have to be to produce *you*, right?!
From where I sit, looks like the apple that is Kathryn didn’t fall far from the tree. Happy Birthday, sir! (and Kathryn, what a beautiful tribute to an impressive and wonderful man!)
Thanks, Antoinette–he *is* a terrific person . . . though sometimes I suspect I may be the *rutabaga* that fell from the tree. 😉
Special from daughter to father!
I’m so fortunate to have the kind of father that inspires such love letters. 🙂
from the beginning to the end of this post, you had me smiling
Happy Birthday to your wonderful Dad …
(the most remarkably special and fabulous Dad ever!)
I won’t argue with you, my dear. I am incredibly lucky to have a fabulous family all through, and I *know* it. So glad you enjoyed hearing about him. 🙂
I’ll just bet your Pop had a gleam in his eye while shedding a tear reading this.. what a fine tribute to an amazing man! He must be delighted to know so much of his wisdom has become a part of his daughter. Lovely, lovely… post. xo Smidge
(whew… and now I think I’ve caught up from when I left… 🙂
He *is* quite a softie beneath that goofy exterior!! Part of his charm, of course. The whole clan is a pretty great mix of the sublime and the sublimely silly. I couldn’t design a family I’d rather have! Though I must say I’ve been blessed in a supernaturally big way by having not only this wonderful gang of blood relatives and still get to acquire such a fabulous family of loved friends as I go along! And I hope y’all know who you are!!
xoxo
He sounds like someone I would love to hear speak. Happy Birthday to you Mr. Kathryn’s dad 🙂
Yes, he’s always managed to combine the thoughtful with the entertaining and the serious with the kind. Not that I’m prejudiced or anything! 😉
He should have “overdone” it a little more and produced a few hundred of you, while he was practicing his philosophy of life. Tee! Hee! Girls with good fathers make good mothers and mates.
Terrific birthday wish…
Oh, I’m quite sure that four of us girls kept him and Mom *plenty* busy!! And one of me is surely as much as the world can take. 😉
What a gift to have a father like that. I love hearing your words of praise for him.
I thank my lucky stars (and garters) every single day. And as I noted to Smidge, I have all the more reason to be grateful when I have such an incredibly fine collection of acquired “family” as y’all too. I’m one *very* lucky kid.
xoxo
A lovely birthday present and tribute
To a mighty lovely fellow, as you can tell. 🙂
Happy (belated) Birthday! Indeed, a remarkable fellow. Thanks for the picture of the mineral specimens. My father had a very large collection of them, and this reminds me of some he had. 🙂
Nice! They were all shot in the provincial museum in Edmonton, where they have a really beautiful collection (among other grand things). I know very little about minerals other than through my admiration for pretty and shiny things! But it’s great fun to go to places that have a bit of useful information along with them so I shake off bits of the ignorance from time to time. And Dad *is* a gem of his own sort!
While reading your post the first time through, I kept thinking about this song. I hope you will let me share it with you. I think you’ll need to copy the link and post it into your browser.
(http://youtu.be/cvTE2dZEcA4)