Fathers Day Continued

I wanted to pay tribute to my own Dad.  Yes, I'm a day late--but you know what they say...better late than never!!

{I think I was about 14 in this picture.  Oh to be that strong now!}

My Dad and I have a special relationship.  It's hard to explain or even describe.  We just have a special bond.  When I was 12 years old I was a competitive gymnast.  I wasn't anywhere near Olympic material, but I wasn't too bad.  It was something that I absolutely loved to do and my parents worked really hard and sacrificed a lot so that I could pursue this passion.   Actually I know that my whole family sacrificed in one way or another so that I could develop this talent.  How do you say "Thank you," for something like that?  The gratitude I feel for my family and all that they did for me during those difficult years of our lives is more than I can express.

Well, along with a talent for gymnastics I was also pretty accident prone.  While at a 4th of July party with some friends I was jumping on the trampoline with too many kids and  ended up dislocating my arm.  This was a devastating injury for me.  I ended up needing surgery to pin a small piece of bone back to my elbow.  I was out of gymnastics for months!!  It was totally discouraging.  (Not to mention having to go through the summer with a cast on my arm.)

When I was finally able to remove the cast, the muscles in my arm were so tight.  They had stiffened into a 90 degree angle.  I couldn't really bend or straighten my arm.  Well, my sweet Dad...one of my biggest supporters, laid on the floor with me, working with me to straighten and bend my arm, stretching those painful muscles to work to their full range of motion.   I honestly can't remember how long it took.  We'd work on it a little at a time for days.  It was so painful!  I just laid there and cried as my Dad would lonvingly encourage me to try and touch my ear or straighten my arm.  Of course he was crying too.  It was a tender, bonding time for us.

As you can see from the picture above, thanks to my Dad's help and the prayers of my family I was able to fully regain the use of my arm and went on to compete in gymnastics for a few more years.  Actually as I remember it the doctors said that I wouldn't be able to go back until January of the next year, but because of the love and support of my family and the blessings of my Heavenly Father, I made it back to the gym in November.

I love my Dad.  Thank you for your sacrifice, your example, your love.  You mean more to me than you know.

Happy Father's Day Dad!