The gold standard

When it comes to Fathers mine set the bar really high. I am so incredibly fortunate to have the Father that I have. There is just one little problem with him and that is he set the standard of Fatherhood so very very high that few will ever live up to it.

Growing up I knew who was the boss and we never fought, really we didn't. If he as much as looked at me with "the Look" I knew I was in trouble and that was all it took. He taught respect from day one. In recent years we have had a couple of arguments and both have left a deep impression.

If any of us, my entire family that is, needed anything, all they had to do was ask and he was there. If it needed to be mended, he could did it, solved, he'd do that too. Sometimes things were taken care of David Minney style and you knew about that for sure. He worked hard, very very hard he still does but he is retired yet don't ever expect to see him sitting down, he doesn't.

His family is paramount, every single one of us. He enjoys nothing more than having us all there with him and all of us is many. "We" are a blended family so "we" are a crowd. The man can party like a rock star and does. He has told me many times that he doesn't know he did wrong with me that made me such a light weight. When it comes to partying I am the black sheep of the family.

I learnt a lot from him and I strive to be like him. It isn't hard his genes are strong, all of us take a lot from his side of the family but it would have been nice if the stubborn streak had skipped a generation.

When Lily came home she wanted nothing to do with any men with the expection of her father and that was hit or miss for a while. When I took her to England to meet my family I warned everyone that she wouldn't go to men. She took one look at the grandpa and ran to him with open arms! (smart kid) She called him "my daddy too". From that moment on a bond was forged.

Happy Fathers Day Daddy. I love you.

This photo just makes me laugh. Only my Father wears a tie when on holiday. My sister and I look thrilled to be there and my brother is AWOL

And people ask me where I get my OCD from...maybe they should ask the man that hoovers his garden!

Grandpa