Thanks Dad...

for being such a good Dad.

Thanks for taking me overseas.

Thanks for taking me to where you worked.

Thanks for all those days when you went to work,
even when you really hated it.

Thanks for building me a shiny yellow catamaran.
Whatever did happen to it?

Thanks for helping me learn to ride (and fix) my bicycle.

Thanks for not killing me when I ruined
your tools learning how to fix my bicycle.

Thanks for making sure I learned to swim before
I learned how to sink, metaphorically and aquatically.

Thanks for not letting me feel sorry for myself. For laughing
when I fell down stairs. At least, I think I'm grateful for that.

Thanks for teaching me how to sail.

Thanks for letting me drive your cars.
Yes, there were a few near misses.

Thanks for teaching me how four- and two-stroke engines work.
I still use those diagrams to teach other people how they work.

Thanks for letting me have a motorbike.

Thanks for helping me fix real four- and two-stroke engines.

Thanks for getting angry when I lied. I don't remember what I lied about, but it was under the treehouse in Kalamunda. You were really cross. It didn't stop me lying, but it was a start.

Thanks for believing in me and for standing by me when I messed up.

Thanks for teaching me about hard work. By word and example.

Thanks for showing me how to draw World War II fighter planes.

Thanks for putting up with me practicing the Eb horn, trumpet and guitar. Just be thankful I never took up drumming.

Thanks for a million things I don't remember just now, or have plain
forgotten. It's probably more than a million. Anyway. Thanks Dad.
------------