A Creature of Habit

Today is Father's Day and I was happy to spend my Sunday morning having breakfast with my Daddy....just like almost every Sunday morning! My dad is a "creature of habit"...those are his words, not mine. Most weekends, he leaves Dallas as early as he can and heads east to his weekend place in Edom. You can find all of his activities at "the ranch" as he calls it, carefully written down in his journal on his dresser.

Example of a typical day's entry:

Friday, June 18th
Arrived 3:47pm -
JFM (Those are his initials)
Sunny, Temp 94, Rain 1/4 inch in gauge
Checked horses on the High Meadow
Fed Divi
Dinner - Cereal
Bed 8:41pm

And it goes on like this for every day he has ever spent there...chronicling every activity and every person who visits for every day that he is there.

And you have to love the voicemails from my dad...they go something like this:

"Hello Mary Margaret McCarthy Scott. This is your father, John McCarthy. I am travelling in an easterly direction on Hwy 31, headed to Cross Yoke Ranch. I was wondering if you wanted to do our regular breakfast at 8:30am at the Bakery on Sunday morning? You can call me back on my cell phone. It's ....." and then he leaves his number, not once, but twice, like I don't have it programmed in my phone, even if I could forget it after hearing it so many times!

So yeah, a creature of habit. And without a doubt, the best daddy a girl could ask for. A father is a very important fixture in a girl's life.

"Daughters need to know that the first man in their life loved them unconditionally, as every other man in her life will be patterned after this first one."-Dr. Beverly Block

My daddy did a fantastic job, even trying to stay close to me during those awkward adolescent years and then during my mom's illness and death in some rough years that followed. Daddy never yelled at me when I made bad choices. He helped me through...he guided me the best he could and I could not be more thankful for his love and support.

So on Father's Day, I feel so happy and blessed to be lucky enough to be my father's daughter. I love you, Daddy!