i am a daddy's girl.  i was raised a spoiled rotten little brat by my papa john. i miss him a lot lately.  and i see him every day... i miss him calling me dolly and big bird making fun of my twiggy long legs.   my dad was one of the most incredible people i know.  he would do just about anything for anybody, didn't even matter how well you knew him.  no matter how crappy things got for me my dad was always there. always.  he never missed a game. of all the sports i played my dad never missed a game.  he would even drag his butt out to see dahlquist just to watch me sing in choir... he HATED going to those.... but he went, always, to support me.  its all these times he was there that remind me why im doing what i do and how lucky i am to do it.  the easiest most second nature things to us i have to help my dad do.   its such a humbling thing. im sure its not easy for him to have his grown daughter help him do these things... but im glad to help my papa john. im glad i can brighten his day by taking him for a ride to arnie's to get him a coke. it makes me very aware of the saying, "treat others as you would want to be treated"...  lately though john is getting worse... he can barely get up.. he can't do the stairs anymore.. and has to have his walker with him everywhere... i'm no longer a good enough crutch. we are in the process of deciding where to put him... keep him upstaris, move him downstairs... who knows... but i do know i'm glad i'm home so we can keep him here with us.

for those of you who don't know... my dad suffered his first stroke at the age of 49, since we last counted, he had since had 16 more.  Then the day my son was born was diagnosed with alzheimers...