Character scetch of my father

Like Father, Like Son

“Let’s go Dane, block that big brute, don’t let him push you around, let’s go Hartford.” Those are common words from my dad on a Friday night, when the game is on the line, or even if we are up by fifty points. He loves football or maybe just the fact that I am on the team. I love football too so it is a great thing to be involved in together. He encourages me to succeed at all the things in my life, but doesn’t demand it. He also supports everything that I am involved in. He doesn’t miss a football game, wrestling match, or anything else that I am involved in. My dad, along with being encouraging and supportive, is very social. My dad can talk to anyone for hours. He could find a man on the street and just talk to him. It is these three characteristics and attributes that I love most about him and have the most impact on me.

My dad always knows what to say. Just a simple, “I’m sure you will do great,” helps me so much. He gives me confidence I need to get the job done whether it is a sport, musical, or school, I know I can count on him to give me the encouragement that I will need. When I am nervous before a game or musical, I know I can go to him for advice and a kind gentle face. When I feel like quitting, because I can’t take it anymore he is always there for encouragement. Just my dad’s face can make me feel better. He will smile and it lets me know that he cares. His encouragement comes from mostly his heart. He always picks me up when I am down. He knows how to cheer me up after a wrestling match that I have just lost.

Along with being encouraging, my dad is very supportive of what I do. He pays for many of my things, although when I ask for money I have to hear the story of how he walked to school, uphill both ways, and in five feet of snow. Although I get the, I worked hard to get this money story, he will almost always give me what I need. Not only does he support me financially, but also mentally. As I have said before my dad loves all sports and easily supports me with his loud and strained voice, however when it comes to the theatrical arts it is a little different. I was in the Hartford musical Oklahoma as the lead of Will Parker. The only bad part of having this lead was that in conflicted with football. I eventually had to give up playing football so that I could be in the musical. This, of course, did not exactly make the father to happy; however he still supported my decision because he knew that it was the right one. I remember telling him, “Dad I am not starting in football, but in the musical I have a lead role, I have to do the musical.”

“I know you do Dane, but I just wish there was a way for you to do both because I know how important football is to both of us,” he replied in his sympathetic voice.

“Yes it is very important to me dad, but the musical needs me more at the moment,” I replied.

“Dane I don’t know if I like that musical is taking priority over football, but if that is what you need to do, I support you,” he said with a weary voice.

“Thank you dad this means so much to me, thank you for backing me up on this,” I said back to him trying to make him feel a little better.

“You’re Welcome Dane, and don’t worry I will be there at every performance,” he said supportively.

I was very much pleased with this talk with my dad. I knew where he stood, which was by my side. He even showed up to the performance dressed like my character to show that he supported me. It doesn’t take much of a dad to support an activity that he likes, but it takes an amazing dad to support an activity that he doesn’t like. This was the case with my dad. He didn’t like the musical as much, but he showed his true greatness as a dad by supporting me in the musical. This was a lesson I will not soon forget, to support your children in all that they do even if it is something that doesn’t interest you.

I don’t know if it is because my dad is a chiropractor, or if he was just born this way, but my dad is more social than anyone else I have ever met. With his job as a Chiropractor he has many patients, and it is almost impossible to go anywhere, with my dad, without running into one of them. I am serious when I say this, for we have gone to Canada, without planning this with this patient, he ran into one of his patients on our way to Canada. Not only have we run into his patients while going to Canada, but it is like this everywhere. I have gotten to the point where I set up a meeting place wherever we go, just in case we run into one of his patients, which we always do. I will tell my dad to meet me at the rendezvous point when he is done. My dad being the social butterfly that he is can’t just say hello and goodbye. Instead my dad has to hear the whole life story and give his own, since he hasn’t seen this person in “forever.” I end up waiting at the rendezvous point for a half hour before my dad finally finds his way over. We will walk another 50 yards and run into another friend and the cycle starts again.

I have started to pick up this trait myself from being his son. My dad has many pictures of me in his office so all of his patients know who I am, but I don’t know them. I remember walking through Target and having, what seemed to me, a stranger come up to me and start talking to me. Being the polite person that I am, talked to this person for about ten minutes, before finding some clever excuse for getting away, after getting away I wondered to myself who was that? It is a trait I am happy I have yet I know I will dread it in the future when I have to stop every time I go out of the house.

My dad is also just such a nice guy and has a nice and masculine face. He attracts many women, which upsets the mother quite a bit. My dad doesn’t intentionally attract all these women, it just happens. Every time I am in the checkout lane at a grocery store, and there is a female checkout girl, the flirting begins. It is actually quite entertaining to watch because my dad says some pretty corny lines. We always leave the checkout lane with a smile on all of our faces.