My Father, me and my son

My son, Maiko, and I spent the whole afternoon building another kennel for the dogs. My shoulders, arms, legs and back hurt. Even my fingers ache. It was a wonderful afternoon. I know that after a few hours of working, my son was hoping I would say it was time to quit and that we would finish it tomorrow. We worked until the sun was just below the horizon. We picked up the tools in the dark. I think we found all of them. It was one of the best afternoons I have enjoyed in a long time. Time spent with my son, working.
I stayed behind to finish picking up some boards, and fence posts. My son carried the tools to the garage. I could tell he had worked more that he had expected. We should have stopped working an hour or so earlier, but I couldn't leave the work for tomorrow. I smiled as I remember working with my dad and wondering when he would stop working. I remember wishing he would stop and tell me that we would finish the work the next day. It just didn't happen. I remember pouring concrete with the light from a lamp on an electric cord because we had to finish work that day. We use to live next door to my parents when we both worked for Vickrey and Assoc., I remember we would get home after 06:30 PM. This was after having gone to work at 06:30 AM, I would walk into my house, get a beer and go sit outside to rest. My dad would eat dinner and then come outside and begin working on the house, the yard, the truck, or something else. I would have to go over and ask if he needed help. We would work until the sun went down.

I am now like my dad. I just can't quit once I start a project. But.... my son is starting to sound like me, like my dad too. We were outside watching his two daughters playing on their swing set. He was talking to his oldest daughter, telling her to be careful with her sister. He used the same words I had used on him more that twenty years ago, when I would tell him to be careful with his brother. I couldn't help telling him, "You sound just like your Dad!" My wife cracked up laughing.

It was a great afternoon and hopefully many years from now it will bring a smile to my son when he remembers the day we worked until sundown building a kennel.

I still miss my Dad, especially on the days when my sons do something good. I know he would love to be there to tell them how proud he is of his grandkids.