What would my Dad think of all this?

I think a lot about my dad today. It was 5 years ago today that I got a call that no daughter or son ever thinks they will get. The call telling me that my dad was involved in a car accident and was killed.

My dad and I were a lot alike in a lot of ways, except for the curly hair that I got from my mom, I looked just like him. We have the same sense of humor and personality. Throught my life, we had, as most dad's and daughters do, our ups and downs. My dad was no saint, and made some dumb decisions in his life. For awhile, I had a hard time seeing past that and held a pretty major grudge. But as I got older, while I still believed he made some bad choices, I was able to put that aside and love him for who he was, warts and all.

My dad had a HUGE heart. He was the kind of person, that if you commented that you liked his tie, he would take it off and give it to you, and that is not an exaggeration. He would also tell it like it is. That got me to thinking what he would think about my lifestyle choices and this IM journey.

His first response would be "Are you F---ING crazy?" and yes, it would have been said exactly like that. Although my dad fancied himself as "athletic" and in his younger days he was quite a tennis player, once he got older, and moved to Boca Raton (as all good Jews do!) golf was his game of choice. I think he liked golf so much because in between holes he could smoke, drink diet coke and eat Entenman's chocolate donuts.

He would not have understood this, but he would have been my biggest supporter. He would have asked a lot of questions, and after I answered he would have said "You are F---ING crazy". But he would be happy for me, and that makes me smile.

Miss you Dad.