Sunday Seven #14: Father's Day Edition

Looking uber glam skiing

With it being Father's Day in Australia today, I thought I would celebrate my main man, my Papa Bear: my dad. Here are seven ways he has made my life special.

1. Coaching my netball team last year: while we weren't the most amazing team by a long stretch, we had a fantastic time. Highlights include dad telling everyone he used to play a lot of netball in the "full forward" position (perhaps he meant Goal Attack?) and telling me to "MOVE" when I was actually out of play for obstructing my player. Oops.

2. My one claim to fame in life was being on the front page of a weekly newspaper in my state (I was about 18 months old, I've clearly moved on). Well, during last week, a very similar photograph appeared in a different newspaper in Western Australia, and dad found my (pretend) outrage so hilarious he photocopied the image and stuck it everywhere around the house. Notable locations include over the copy of my photograph we have framed, on my mirror, behind my bathroom door, and in my bed. Nicely done.

3. Last night I got home from a party, with that sinking feeling in your stomach you have when you realised you've taken your sheets off the bed to wash them and haven't put them back on. Dad to the rescue: he'd remade my bed for me. Bless.

4. Waking me up at 5am 3 mornings a week for rowing training for a whole year. So much dedication. He would also drive me to rowing (the dog would get the front seat of the car).

5. Dad taught me how to ride a bike and also taught me how to drive, necessary skills that I will always have. I was so nervous about learning to drive because I thought dad would be a bit of an anxious passenger seat driver, but he kept to his word and only yelled once - and that was a bit of a life/ death style situation.

6. Always mimicking me - dad is very good at taking the micky out of EVERYTHING and sometimes I'll say something and straight away be thinking "ohh boy. Oh boy. Nope, that was a very very very bad idea". Dad, ever the comedian, will always make sure to capitalise on it.

7. "Sophisticated" text message exchanges - dad and I are usually texting each other memes or really lame jokes that no one else in the family seems to find even slightly amusing. The whole time I was in Cambodia, dad was keeping up to date with photographs and what I was up to (I think he was mainly interested in the photographs, because whenever he called, he would make sure I was alive and then ask me to send through all my pictures). Now, we swap funny photographs and angst at our shared love for correct grammar.

In truth, there are so many other ways that dad has made my life special. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, and to mine? I love you so much, and you are one in a billion.