Tripping down Memory Lane with Dad...

I was just reading a friend's blog and got inspired.  Her post is about parenting dilemma's with no solution's.  That got me to thinking about when I was 16 or 17 and my dad had to have the facts of life talk with me.  No not the sex talk, the facts of life.  You know the one we all get when we're 16 or 17 years old and have decided we can't live with our parents rules and we're moving out on our own.

Yeah that talk.  Mine took place in the bathroom.
 The bathroom was the only room in the little farm house that I couldn't escape from so he chased me in there and sat me down on the toilet and locked the door.

He then proceeded to tell me how much everything in the world cost especially toilet paper! Toilet paper was always very important in my father's facts of life speeches.  My dad gave his speech (in various locations) to a lot of my friends, I'm discovering.  Just the other day one of my friends whom I haven't seen in almost 20 years and I were reminiscing about my dad and the topic of this particular speech came up.
To this day every time she walks into the bathroom she thinks of my dad and his speech about toilet paper! LOL She always makes sure she has money for toilet paper!  She loved my dad almost as much as I do.

I have lots of wonderful memories of my Dad.  I have memories of him and I dancing around the living room singing Christmas songs in Norwegian.  My dad was born and raised in Norway and although he didn't teach my brother and I how to speak Norwegian, he did teach us some songs.  I think they stuck with me more than my brother but I don't know why.  Maybe because I was the singer in the family and my brother was the techy kid and the karate kid.  (My little brother had a natural talent/instinct for martial arts.  To this day he is still extremely talented and I certainly wouldn't take him on!  He had a wonderful instructor too.  Sukhwinder Manhas.  He still teaches today and I'm going to send my kids to him when they're old enough and ready.  Martial arts is an excellent way to teach self control and self regulation especially with an instructor like Mr. Manhas.)

Other memories include things like going wood cutting with Dad.  I was always more the tomboy and loved going to get firewood.  We went with our youth group, or by ourselves and it was a family affair to split it and stack it.  Those were simpler days.  When the family spent time together and enjoyed eachother's company.

My dad was a wonderful, strong, loving - if not demonstrative- man.  He was well respected in the community for his work with the less fortunate and his compassion for the downtrodden.  He didn't give hand outs, but he did offer hand ups.  I think I got some of that from him.

So what has all this got to do with adoption?  Nothing.  Just a trip down memory lane and if  I can give my children half of the wonderful childhood memories my Dad gave me, then I'll have accomplished something good.  I hope I'm doing that.