Dad, Thanks For The Fun

If there was ever a theme for my Dad it would be fun, at least when it came to me. This photo is from Dayton, Ohio when I was just about three years old which would have made my Dad 26. Perhaps he was all about fun because he was practically a kid himself, so going on the swing set with me, or teaching me to swim or endlessly catching me as I jumped into the pool were not just things I liked to do, but things he liked to do. Whatever my Dad was doing was what I wanted to be doing.

I thought all Dads were fun, but my friends used to think my Dad was fun too. Although they never said it, I think in lots of ways he was more fun than their Dads. But then my Dad was also demanding. Ask anyone who ever worked for him.

Work is probably the other theme for my Dad. But I think that most of the time he thought work was fun. Work was important to my Dad and he instilled that in me early. Since he worked at Avon most of my young years he had a strong sense that women were great workers and he highly encouraged me and my sisters to be good workers.

I am thankful that I have been able to have a life balanced out between work and fun and that is due in many ways to Russ Lange who has many of the same qualities my father does when it comes to work. Fun for Russ is different than it is for my Dad, but Russ is very generous about making sure that I have fun.

So to the two fathers in my life, Ed Carter and Russ Lange I want to thank you for a really fun life that happens to be productive too. Both of you hardly get the recognition you deserve for being so generous. Father’s day has never been a big day in any house I lived in because the father was usually doing something for someone else. Your selflessness has not gone unnoticed. I love you both.