On Fathers and Washers...

The old adage, "When it rains, it pours," has really rung true in the Hartland the past week. While in the midst of planning two trips for the months to come and purchasing plane tickets and other related items, we got slammed with a massive car repair and a broken washing machine! Needless to say, it's been an expensive week for us. After paying an appliance repairman sixty whoppin' dollars to come to my house for five seconds and tell me that my washer was broken, I learned that I would need to replace it. Since my husband is basically unavailable for all things nonprofessional til June of 2010, I turned to my all-knowing father for some advice. With one phone call, he dropped everything yesterday and drove the hour to my house to spend the afternoon with me. My dad accompanied Lia and me to three stores in order to help us pick out a suitable, replacement washer and then returned to my house to detach the defunct one and provide a tutorial on the basics of washing machine hook-up that I have apparently been ignorant of over the past 33 years! I will always be grateful for my father and the hours of service that he has provided for my brothers and me and an endless list of others who have been fortunate enough to know him. Although he is most definitely one of the most unique and unconventional people I have ever known, I love him to death and will always be grateful for his loving service and example. Thanks, dad!

***The picture above was taken of my father in my brother's yard in Montana and is one of my favorites as it truly shows my dad in his grandfatherly element.