Some of My Favorite Memories with My Dad, by Delaney, age 13

My favorite memories with Daddy must have been in Illinois.  Back then, he was recruiting, his new job in the Army.  He worked long hours.  He would be gone by the time I woke up and come home while I was already asleep in bed.  He worked six days a week.  We only saw him on Sundays, and these are my favorite memories.

I was just about five when I realized I could see Daddy every day!  My plan was this: if I got out of bed early, I could maybe, just possibly, catch him before he left.  I tried it and it worked!  I taught myself just when to wake up so I could see him.  My drill was to throw on clothes, then to race downstairs quietly so as not to wake anyone else up.  When I got downstairs, I would sit on his lap and eat his his fresh out of the bread machine bread covered in blackberry jam.  Maybe that's why it's my favorite?  I would then walk out to his car with him and stand there until I couldn't see it anymore.  That's favorite memory #1.

On some rare Sundays, he would collect the ones of us who were awake and take us to Duncan Doughnuts.  We would walk in and be flooded by the smell of coffee and doughnuts, one of my favorite smells.  Then we would stand at the case and gaze for a very long time at all the different doughnuts.  Everyone else would pick theirs quickly, but not me.  I stood a long, long time, and Daddy would just say, "Take your time."  That's favorite memory #2.

One very snowy winter, he tried to take us up the big hill next to our house to go sledding.  It was fun walking up the hill in his footsteps.  When we got there, it turned out me and Brenna couldn't steer or get the sled going, so he sat behind us on our little sled and pushed off with his hands.  It turned out Daddy wasn't so good at steering, either.  We crashed at the bottom of the hill on a playground.  Ouch!  Oh, well.  Time for hot chocolate!  Favorite memory #3.

These are just a few of my favorite memories and I know there are more to come, but strangely enough, the little memories are my favorites - not the time we went to Florida, but the times we built sand castles in our back yard.