6/21/09 - HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there and thank you all so much to those who wished me a Happy Father's Day too :)

I apologize for not keep up with the blog and keeping you informed with how things are going. Everytime I sit down to write something, I am at a loss of words. I know this sounds crazy, but I have typers block and just can't think of what to talk about. I guess when you have so much to talk about with Kayleigh, you run out of things to say when there isn't much going on with us.

That leads me to something I would like to continue and that is not "Thoughtful Thursdays" but "Thankful Thursday" to talk about those in our lives who we are so thankful for. I have a lot of people in my life who have lead the path to direct my growth as a person and I think it would be an honor to acknowledge those people to the world.

I know today is Father's day Sunday and it doesn't look or sound anything like Thursday, but how can I pass up on a day to recognize one of the most important people in my life...my Dad.

My Dad, Gary Freeman or better known around here as "Papa G" is everything that exemplifies what a dad should be. He is who paved the way for me to be the man that I am today. From the very beginning, I remember my dad being the hard working man who supported our family to have a life filled with so many wonderful memories. We were a middle class family who never had the expensive things, but we had more than that. We had all the love a family could ask for.

The best memories I had growing up were spent with my family and we were all very intensely in to baseball. My brothers and I played competitively, and my dad made sure we had the up to date gloves, bats and training to increase our skills. My dad was a catcher growing up and before he seriously hurt his back, he was a great ballplayer. However, a career ending injury can't take away his knowledge and he certainly passed on a great bit of help to gear us ready for each level of play. All three of us (Scott, Josh and myself) succeeded in our baseball careers and we owe it all to my dad.

My dad is a leader and is very knowledgeable about everything that life's lessons bring. However, he may be too knowledgeable in the math department which scared us to death to ask for help in our math setbacks. If you look up "human calculator" in the dictionary, you will see a photo of my dad...and one of those clouds above his head with an impossible math calculation spelled out.

Beyond his math intelligence, he is a big teddy bear who loves "Patti Kaye" (my mom) and holds nothing back to show it. You can see the size of his heart and the love he has for her, which shows us all how to be a knight in shining armour. The love he gives will be an impossible level to reach, but worth every ounce to try.

I am the dad I was for Kayleigh because my dad lead me to love like no other. Kayleigh would have grown up with the best grandpa is the world, but she is certainly shining down from heaven just waiting for the day "Papa G" can kiss, hug and tease her (like he does to us all) in to giggles.

"Dad, I love you so much and I want to thank you for being the best example of a father anyone could ask for. I am beyond blessed to call you my dad and even though I have been a pain at times, thank you for loving me unconditionally. You should be so proud of yourself for the life you have lived and the lives you have touched. I am lucky to have you and thank you for EVERYTHING"



God Bless,