In My Father's Eyes

As humans we learn in two ways... by what we are told and what we see. I've spent a lot of my life wishing that my Dad and I could sit down and have a meaningful conversation about our thoughts and ideas like I do with my friends or my Mom. I lamented that we don't have that father daughter relationship that I had read about or seen on TV. Foolish girl; will I ever fully learn that just because something isn't how I think it should be doesn't mean that there's something wrong with it? Today I realize that my relationship with my father is based on observation rather than conversation, which really isn't surprising considering conversation is not one of our strengths. When I look back on my most precious memories with my dad we aren't talking, but that doesn't mean I wasn't learning. I learned that if your gonna drive a truck, make it a Kenworth, if your gonna listen to music, make it country and if your gonna listen to country make it Garth Brooks, George Strait, Reba or Brooks and Dunn. These may seem like trivial things on the surface but to me they are foundation of everything my dad stands for. You see he started working full time at the age of 14 for his father who owned a trucking company. Through this job he's shown me what it means to work hard and every weekend when he hauls the band equipment for the local high school even though he doesn't have any kids that go there anymore I see how important it is to give back. When I ride across the country in the passenger seat of that Kenworth my dad shares with me his sanctuary. It's a place where you can witness God's handiwork as the sun comes up over the mountains and appreciate the vastness of the universe when you look up at the stars over Texas, but most importantly it's the place where my dad and I listen to country music together. I don't think my Dad ever realized that these songs are my Bible, they contain all the words he never needed to say about faith, hope, love and life. In my fathers eyes life is as simple as country music, it's all about family, friends, God, hard work, American pride, trucks and love. That's a pretty good view from the passenger seat.