Seeing the Edge with NW Marketing Guy - Rod Brooks

Dad Was In The Picture... Even When He Wasn't!

Maybe it was because he was the one looking through the lens of his 35mmcamera or maybe it was because he was low on Kodachrome film or those blue, golf-ball sized flash bulbs. Whatever the reason, my dad wasn't in very many of the pictures that were handed down to my sisters and me - at least not the one's that I have.

As a result, the pictures that I have of my dad are, for the most part, the pictures that I can pull from memories that have been stored away in my mind for over 35 years. Dad joined my mom in Heaven when I was 25 and as the years go on those mental pictures are harder and harder to recreate. Some have turned into short movies. Some have been spliced together and laid out in a collage of sorts. They probably weren't taken on the same day or in the same place, but putting them together helps to remind me of the bigger picture and the great times we had.

There aren't many pictures of me together with my dad. That could be because I had two little sisters that were incredibly cute and captured his heart from the time he and mom brought them home from the hospital. The few pictures I've seen of me with dad were either taken before they were born, or as a group we were all in together.

I wish I had a few great pictures of my dad and I working in the yard together, washing our cars, playing catch, or sitting on the living room floor playing a spirited game of cribbage. I would like to hold the pictures of us sitting by the fire during one of our many camping trips, or the two of us grilling burgers for a backyard barbecue when friends and family gathered in time for an evening meal.

There were so many opportunities for someone to take those pictures that don't exist. But it's okay.

I was able to spend a lot of time with my dad. He made that time important. We talked together, worked together, played together, and even dreamed of times we would have down the road together. His wife and family were everything to him. That's how I'll always picture him.

This Father's Day is one of the few that I recall being in a place where none of my children are able to be. Two of my son's have become dads themselves and my daughter is married to a dad. All three are doing an awesome job. Together, they have given me seven beautiful grandchildren that, unlike my dad with my children, I've had time to know, love and watch as they begin their young lives.

Some might say that Father's Day is about being with your dad. That's fantastic when it's possible. When it's not, Father's Day is a time for memories and reflecting on what's important between a dad and his kids. Can you picture it? Pretty special isn't it!

Thanks for the memories dad. Happy Father's Day. What the picture that you carry with you of time spent with your dad? I invite you to share your story in my guest book. Here's to our dads!