On this Father’s Day, I want to say thanks to my dad for being a wonderful dad and person. Without you, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and I certainly would not have started Pale Spruce. When I think of who my idols are, I don’t have to look past my parents.
Here are a few of the many things that you have taught me and I hope to pass down to my own boys.
Family:
Spending time with Grandma Amick, uncles, aunts, and cousins. At the time it wasn’t fun for a kid to sit still and listen to grandma forget she was telling the same story for the third time that day. However, they are great memories that I will have forever.
You also made time for our family to take vacations and visit new places. You may not have wanted to close down your business and take the vacations, but you did it for us. And we had some fun family times even if you wouldn’t stop to let me pee while you were driving.
I also remember the motorcycle riding. That’s probably what sent me on this bicycling journey of mine and my moving out to Colorado. I always enjoyed riding through the woods and trying to find the “shortcut” through the middle of the mud holes. How was I supposed to know that the middle was the deepest part?
Work ethic:
You made sure that I learned the value of hard work. As a little kid, it was fun to go to work with dad and goof around on the lot. As a teenager, not so fun but it was a great learning experience. You were not always my favorite person, but you made sure I developed the habit of working. It didn’t matter that I had been out late on a Friday night. You still woke me up at 7AM to go deliver buildings and I think you even had a smile on your face knowing that I didn’t want to get up at that time.
Corny jokes:
There are plenty of these that we’ve heard thousands of times. Somehow they never go out of style, do they?
“When I grew up, we were so poor that we didn’t have enough beds for all of the kids. We had to sleep in shifts and if you got home late, you were shift out of luck”.
“I had to get out of the cookie business. It was crumbling”.
“Then I left the trampoline business because it was always up and down”.
Organization:
Sorry dad, but I did not learn this one from you.
Sports:
As a kid, being able to go to the softball games and watch you crush the home runs was quite fun. What kid wouldn’t have fun bragging about his dad being the one that hit the ball deep into the woods behind left field.
How about those lessons of teaching me how to lose? I’m not sure if this was harder on you or me because I was not an quick learner in this area. I know I got a 36 on one hole of putt putt, but did you have to laugh and tease me like you did? Yes, I guess you did, and I’m still trying to figure out how to lose graciously.
Maybe your best advice was “No matter how good you think you are, there is always someone better that can beat you”. This is not just for sports but for everyday life and I still think about this.
Business:
Seeing you run your business for all of these years made me want to start one of my own. It has been a dream of mine to follow in your footsteps and I can finally say that I’m on that journey.
You had to work a lot of hours, you didn’t have a lot of free time, and it certainly wasn’t easy. Through it all, you stood for honesty, treating customers fairly, and making sure that your word and a handshake really meant something. Sure, you could have made more money, but then that customer may not have come back for a second, third, or fourth sale.
Above all, you taught me how to be a real man. It’s not how much money you have or how important you think you are. It’s about having family and friends, treating people kindly, helping people in need, and making sure people can trust you when you give them your word.
Thanks for all you have done and continue to do for me. I love you and Happy Father’s Day,
Andy