Annabel Lee...

"It was many and many a year ago, In a kingdom by the sea, That a maiden there lived whom you may know By the name of Annabel Lee; And this maiden she lived with no other thought Than to love and be loved by me. ....... And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes Of the beautiful Annabel Lee; And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side Of my darling, my darling, my life and my bride, In the sepulcher there by the sea, In her tomb by the sounding sea. I was a child and she was a child, In this kingdom by the sea." Excerts from Annabel Lee by Edger Allen Poe
My dad must have read me this poem a million time, I used to LOVE listening to him read it to me while I lay in my bed! He read it with so much emotion and feeling! "It was many and many a year ago, in a kingdon by the sea, that a maiden there lived whom you may know by the name of Tiffany G; and this maiden she lived with no other thought than to love and be loved by me"...that is how I felt about my dad ...he was my one and only for a long time, (I'm sorry Chris swept me away dad) but I felt this way for good reason...he has been such an AMAZING DAD!!!
Yesterday was his birthday and I wanted to let him know just how much he means to me...I don't think I could have asked for a better father.
Here are a few of my favorite things:
he played Barbie's with me (in a closet with 4 ft. ceilings)
always gave me a Valentine
taught me all kinds of crazy stuff like...to ski at 4 and drive a 3-wheeler at 7 or 8!
drove 'Faster daddy, faster!' when instructed & on his own!
made up names like 'Tiffer the wiffer'
took me to Disneyland (a million times), Hawaii, Paris...every where I dreamed!
he left all the 'real' punishing up to my mom!
taught me to change a tire
woke me up early in the morning to ask what I did the night before...this was not a favorite at the time because I am not a morning person! but looking back it is sweet that he cared!
took me to BYU football & basketball games (still takes me...this was in Nov.)

I could go on and on and on...I could say a million things about my dad but the most important thing is that I've always always always been able to count on him! He has always been willing to do whatever he could for me! He was even the 'letter Nazi' (or so Nat & my mom called him) when I was on my mission...he was constantly hounding them about what day they were going to send their letters and trying to coordinate it so that I would have a letter almost everyday...rather then several on one day! He wrote my twice a week for a year and a half, and they were not just short notes...they were real letters...he even made up stories if he had nothing to write...just to keep it interesting! He has been looking out for me from day 1...when he told my mom she changed diapers wrong because she did not use newspaper to fan my bottom dry like he did!

I cannot think of a time in my entire life that I have not been able to call my dad for help. I have not always conciously recognized this...infact I only really realized it a few weeks ago when Dean was still asleep (& we had something going on that day so I wanted him to get a good nap) and Brielle needed to go to preschool...my mom was at an appointment and Chris was in American Fork....so I called my dad to see if by chance he was in his car driving somewhere...he was not...he was at his office, so I told him nevermind...but he insisted that he would be happy to leave his office, drive to my house and take her to preschool...then go back to his office! I tried to tell him it was not that big of a deal and I did not want to inconveniece him, but he insisted that he was more then happy to do it...this is when I realized that my dad has always been there for me when I needed him, even at his own inconveinence!

He did it again this week when I called him at 9pm and asked him to go over to my house because I was at a cooking class with my mom (that was running late) and Chris was supposed to go to Basketball at the Church and was about to kill me! My dad ran over to my house and spent an hour with my crazy kiddo's who were WIRED because he was there! They LOVE him! The second Dean sees him he starts growling and trying to 'get' him and Brielle has adored him for years because he will do ANYTHING she asks/tells him to do including pretending to be Goofy or Donald Duck (atleast 4 times a week)! He plays with her in a way that most adults don't...he actually plays...and for long periods of time! I am terrible at this....but I should be better because the memories I have of 'really playing' with my dad are so sweet and vivid! I love you dad!