Today is My Father's 86th Birthday...

Today is my father's 86th birthday. I have been thinking a lot about his life; especially in this November month of reflecting on what we are thankful for each day. If you've ever met my dad--Bliss--you know that few names have so aptly defined a person as his. It is his middle name, it was his mother's maiden name and some friends called him John but he is BLISS (when he walked into our high school basketball games, the whole student section would holler BLLIIISSS). Friendly & easy-going, he loved nothing more than a good Redskins game (or really any sporting event, to be honest), a very dry martini, his wife Nancy, all things Wyoming, his black lab named Chey, his 3 kids. He was born in Kansas City, Missouri but was adopted just a few weeks later by Gertie & Roy Cummings who raised him Hanna, Wyoming. He had no desire to find his birth parents (despite my mother's certainty that he was Walter Cronkite's younger brother)--Roy & Gertie were his parents--good parents. He graduated from the University of Wyoming, married Nancy and they began life in Cheyennne. They moved east, where he worked for the IRS. He coached teams, served on the Bowie City Council, took my sister and her friends skiing at Roundtop, supported my mother's ill-fated run for School Board, wrote me a letter nearly every week I was at college, often stopping in for a Cowboys football game on his way to or from work in Salt Lake City. He took us to church every Sunday, he was a part of "The Study Club"--several couples who gathered on Friday evenings to learn more about their faith, to share life, to eat meals together, to laugh and cry together. Every other summer, he loaded us into the station wagon and drove us west--to visit family and friends in North Dakota and Minnesota and Wyoming. He was solid and reliable and faithful. When my mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor--he simply loved her, stayed with her--he never panicked. After her death, he continued living, making new friends, visiting old ones. He knew when it was time to move closer to us, when it was time to move into Chambrel. He made it so easy for all of us--there was no prideful ego refusing to relinquish independence. He had a stroke 3 years ago and although his speech is slow--his essence--his Blissness remains. He never complains, he is happy to go along with whatever is offered. He still remembers all of us--his eyes light up when there is mention of his 7 grandkids. They call themselves The Blisslings--they are his greatest legacy. I just wanted to honor him today--Happy Birthday, Daddy--I sure do love you.  Your simple, well-lived life has taught me more about faith and grace in aging than anyone or anything. You will know an eternal bliss one day but in the meantime--I am so thankful God brought you into this world and that you are here with us today.