HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

 "The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him". Proverbs 20:7

The dads of the 50's, 60's and 70's are not the same dads of 2022!.The dad of 2022 doesn's want a tie. Ties used to be the most frequently gifted Father's day item (like flowers and candy for Mother's day). Fewer and fewer people dress up now for work and even for weddings and funerals. So, what do dads really want now?

Instead of material things, the dads of today want more time and exoperiences with people who matter to them. We live on the lake, and we see families in their boats with their kids, fishing, swimming and having a blast! Those are memories that will last a lifetime. My dad passed away 30 years ago, but I still remember when I took him to a "fancy Albanian" restaurant in Redondo Beach, California. My dad was born and raised in Albania, and a friend at work raved about this place, so I figure he would really enjoy it. The traffic on the 405 Freeway was bumper to bumper, but we made it to the restaurant after an hour or so. The owner was very gracious and he tried to please us with all the different dishes. The entire time we were there, my dad kept complaining that these dishes were not even close to being "Albanian", and they were way too expensive. He kept saying "let's go". My mom and I kept telling him to be quiet and not insult the guy. It was an experience, to say the least. The more dishes he brought out and the more he asked how we liked them, the harder it was not to laugh. By the way, my dad was right. The dishes were pretty bad.... not what we had expected. At some point the ordeal ended. On the way home all three of us laughed hysterically the entire trip home. It was so worth it, that we never forgot it. It was definetely a moment in time. Haven't we all been there? 

When asked, most dads indicate that they would love to have a meal with their kids. It doesn't even matter where, an ice cream parlor will be enough. We do ice cream outings every so often with some friends of ours, and that is so much fun. We enjoy the company and the ride to and from the ice cream place. They have the BEST ice cream, and BIGGEST ice cream scoops, I have ever seen!

Whether your dad is 25 or 75, it is the gift of time with family and friends that will never go out of style. So, whether you are being celebrated as a dad, or you are celebrating your dad, enjoy the day and make it a memorable one! Some day you will look back on these fond memories that will put a big smile on your face...

Have a Happy Father's Day!

Happy June

 Another month went by. Everything that could happen in May, did. Both Galen and I came down with Covid, the weather was getting hot and muggy after some bad weather we had, and both our air conditioning units decided to quit on us at the same time, as did our refrigerator.  Our washer and dryer sounded as if they were on their last days as well, so we decided to replace them as well. There were other things that happened, but I will spare you the details. We are so thankful, that all of these things are now behind us and we can laugh about them. With so many horrific things happening in our country and  around the world, these things were minor bumbs on the road...

So, what did I miss while we were busy with personal events? Well, I realized that May is a very busy month with all kinds of holidays. I decided to look them up.

May day celebration...when I lived in Sweden, there were parades in every town.

Cinco de Mayo......National Astronaut day, and National Prayer Day... I hope we all remembered to pray for our families our country and the world. God is hard to see, but He is at work and He hears our prayers. There is much evil in the world, but don't lose hope and faith. Don't quit praying.

Mother's day....for some of us it can be a sad day of sorts, because our mothers are no longer with us..or we may not have children to send us flowers, candy or take us out to lunch.Make sure you honor and do things with your mother all the time, not only on this special day, one day she will not be there.

Memorial Day....We are thankful to all the soldiers who died for us, so that we can have the Freedoms we enjoy. The men and women we don't know sacrificed their lives for us. We owe them respect, honor and appreciation. We are so blessed to live in this country, and unfortunately, we forget and take our freedoms for granted.

Also, May happens to be National Pet Week (May 1-7) and National Pet Month....enjoy and love your pets......all the time, not just on holidays! It is interesting that we dedicate a whole month for our pets, but only one day for Mothers and one day for God and Prayer!!

Anyway, I decided to look up what other holidays there are and I was blown away, I will mention just a few more. If you missed them this year, maybe you can celebrate next year.....:)) This is too crazy! Who comes up with all these days?? I guess we love any excuse to celebrate and have a party!

Ready? Here we go:

May 4...Star wars day- who doesn't want to be greeted by "May the force (or is it fourth) be with you?

May 10.....Clean your room day...????? Interesting...we don't want to clean our rooms 365 days?

May 16...Do something good for your neighbor day....WOW...I thought we should do that as often as possible...also May 16 is BBQ day..whatever that means

May 18...Visit relatives day! OK..you lost me again...what about the rest of the year?

May 20....Bike to work day....Yup good luck on this one, I come from Los Angeles, and now live in a rural area where people drive into the big city for work!

May 21....National American Red Cross Founder's day....this is also my mother's name day...day...... St Helen day..in the Greek Orthodox church, we celebrate name days, besides birthdays. I believe there is a saint for everyday of the year. My nameday is St Sofia, September 17...

May 24 ....National brother and sister day......Well, I missed this one, and so did my brother:))

May 28...Hamburger day....??? do we eat hamburgers on this day....missed that one too

Last but not least...Smile day and national macaroon day...well, I like smiling at people and I like it when people smile back! and definitely macaroons make me smile. I love them!

I left a whole bunch of "holidays" out....but it was a VERY long list...you can look up the rest...I am sure.....if you are curious.

June is going to be a great month!

Many blessing to you all............