Mama Kats Writer's Workshop: Lessons from Dad

This Week's Prompts
1.) Father's Day is coming! Share something you've learned from your husband about parenting. What makes him good at what he does?
2.) Share a lesson you learned from your Father that still sticks with you to this day.
3.) Write a poem about the summertime blues.
4.) List the top 7 things you need for the perfect barbecue.
5.) Share something mean someone said to you once, why has it stuck with you after all these years?

This week's writing prompts from Mama Kat's Writers Workshop made it hard to choose just one! I had so  much fun last week "meeting," so many of the other writers. (Notice I didn't say other bloggers?)

My Dad and I have a very unique relationship, as he wasn't always my Dad. I was only 8 years old when my step-father married my mom, and brought two brothers into my world. As an only child, I was clueless as to how I was going to let all these men into, our happy girls-only little apartment . I didn't make it very easy, and it is a wonder the man didn't run for the hills!

Dad was the one who taught me how to ride a bike, saddle a horse, how to parallel park, and how dance the two-step. Yet, the one lesson that stands out the most, is to tell the people you love, how much you really love them. My Dad would leave notes for my Mom and I, and never in the same place twice. He wouldn't write more than a few lines, but took the time to say how much he loved us, was proud of something, or just to say thank you. He wasn't afraid to express his feelings, and for that I am very thankful. Dad has very distinctive hand writing, and to this day I have never seen anyone else write like him, but I can not tell you what a joy it is to find something he has written. When I packed up and left home, I couldn't help but giggle at the many notes I kept over the years. I found them tucked away, and in the strangest places, Dad's little notes gave me such comfort while I was growing up that I just couldn't part with them.

• Jenny, thank you for mopping the floor after the dog knocked over the trash can.
• You looked beautiful last night, all dressed up for Home Coming.
• Did you know I am proud of you?
• Jenny, I left early this morning but I just want to say hello, have a good day.
• You and your Mom mean so much to me, just wanted you to know.
• Never been more proud...hugs, Dad

Don't be afraid to tell the ones you love, how much you care. The art of the written word is a dying skill, in this age of technology. When was the last time you wrote a love letter? Have you sat down and wrote a thank you note, not for a gift but just a simple thank you? Can you remember a letter or card that really moved you, and just made you smile knowing that someone took the time to write it?