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From:
Kristie Golden
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Monday, August 31, 2015
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trib·ute
'tribyo?ot/
noun
an act, statement, or gift that is intended to show gratitude, respect, or admiration
Where to start? HAPPY BIRTHDAY SEED!!! A tribute just does not seem like enough, but I’ve decided it’s a start. On this day, your birthday you would have been 78 years old Seed. It’s hard to believe you have been gone 1 whole month exactly on this day. We all joke about how you had to leave the earth with 777 being in your memorial. Dying on the last day of the 7th month while you were 77 was a really good one Seed. Well Played Mr Ny-day-ger.
It’s really cliché when people say, “I have the best dad ever.” I’m sure that many people who say that, feel that way, and that’s great, but you were the perfect one for me. I am so grateful, that you worked so hard for our family. We may have joked about you getting paid to put your feet up on the desk, but truth be told, we know your art of “never met a stranger” was instrumental to your success and growth as a businessman and for that we are admire you.
You and Mom sacrificed your entire lives to raise six independent, strong willed healthy girls and we are grateful that you and Mom loved each other enough to fight for your marriage and stayed married “till death us do part” because it’s not very common anymore. You sacrificed many hours sitting on shopping mall benches with package after package as we shopped for school clothes, periodically making a trip out to the car to deposit them into the trunk. Never once did I hear you complain about this annual process. You always just went along with the drill. This was long before cell phones (the mind numbing game box that allows men to waste copious amounts of time without complaint on previously mentioned bench) and for that I have mad respect for your commitment to us all.
One of my fondest memories of us was the trips to “The dump”. You always let me sit on your lap and drive the pickup on that long gravel road to the landfill, one of the simplest of things that I have always cherished and don’t even know if I ever told you that. Fond memories of family trips and how blessed we were to have the opportunity with a family our size, to do the things we did still blows my mind. I know everything you did as an amazing friend, businessman, family man and downright amazing human being all factored into the things that we were blessed to do. Your connections had to be made, nurtured and maintained in order to get those advantages. I know you really never got alone time or time without having to be somewhere or do something, your sacrifice to better us all was never unappreciated even though we may not have shown our appreciation or were nasty brats at times.
My personal struggles in dealing with that fact that you are gone are shadowed by the joy I remember with you being in my life. You are worth every tear, every struggle, every pain and every fear. I would love to say that I wouldn’t change a thing, but that would be a lie. I would selfishly have asked to keep you here longer. I know God’s will, God’s timing are always perfect.
I’m so happy to have had you as my Dad and I will always call you Poppy Seed, so in honor of your birthday “SEED” I have decided to donate to a charity that provides vegetable and fruit seeds to families in poverty. It will sustain them and allow them to thrive and quite simply, live. I donated in your memory to S.E.E.D. Ministries and will do this every year on your birthday as long as the Lord allows me to do so. I miss you and love you so much. Happy Birthday Seed!
http://www.acworldrelief.org/seed-ministries/
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