Vater

There is much to be said about my dad. To say it all could fill volumes. 

My dad was born in Perham, Minnesota to Iris and Henry Abel. He was their eldest child. My grandma had been married before and had two daughters. Two sons came after my dad to complete the family. My aunts have many stories about my dad. Everyone thought he could read before he could actually read, because his sisters had taught him what the different bottle caps looked like. He was a young person during their dating years. His sisters' dates used to give him money to go away. "Here's a quarter kid, now scram!" I'm told he earned quite a living off that...or, at least, he got a lot of ice cream cones with that money. They lived in Vergas, Minnesota for a time and eventually moved to Downey, California. His older sisters stayed in Minnesota. They had both married and were settling down in Minnesota. I imagine it was somewhat difficult for my grandparents, my dad, and his two younger brothers to say farewell to his sisters and move so far away. 

My dad graduated from Downey High. Incidentally, he was a band student and in the same band class as Karen Carpenter. That's just cool! My dad went to BYU in Provo after serving a mission in the Central German Mission. He met and married my mom in 1970 and I came along about a year after that.

My favorite memory from growing up is that we kids used to wrestle my dad. He took us all on. We always won because he let us.

They raised nine children who are all trying to be decent people. So, I'd say they've done a good job. They have 12 grandchildren from their five married children and that number will move to 13 before the end of the year.

Here's what I've learned from my dad:

1. How to balance a checkbook.

2. How to pack a suitcase/trunk/shopping cart.

3. How to drive.

4. My love of history and books (especially books about history).

5. That sometimes we have experiences we don't like so we can  help others who have similar unlikable experiences.

6. Countless facts about everything imaginable, which I have mostly forgotten but I know they're in my brain somewhere. (My dad is a walking encyclopedia).

I've been told that I was a mommy's girl in my younger days and my mom says I've turned into a daddy's girl. Sorry about the beets, dad. 

Ich liebe dich!