Happy Father's Day.... Photo and quote by Maddylane

Happy Father's Day....
Originally uploaded by Miyspirit

Happy Father's Day....

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.
Fathers Day Quote by: Jim Valvano

Growing up being the middle of 5 children, I thought I was the forgotten child, so I became very independent and self sufficient and lived my life as such. My father was a very quiet man and a very brilliant man, who didn’t really say much but when he did, I not only listen, I remember. A few years ago at my grandmother (my mother’s mother) funereal, after I gave the eulogy my father came up to me with a teary eye and frog in his throat and he said something to me that I’ll never forget. Actually he said this to me years ago as well but in a different way but I did not know what he meant until this moment. Years ago as a young teenager he had said to me, “You can choose to be your worst enemy or your own best friend… its up to you, its your choice!”
That day, he said this to me (I don’t remember the exact words, but it was something like this)…, I’m so proud of you, I have watched from afar over the years because you have not let me in, but glad to see that you have chosen to become your own best friend. He then went on to say that when I was up there on the podium, it had touched him deeply it gave him chills because he said he had a vision of me becoming a motivational or spiritual speaker, because he said I glowed… I looked at him in total amazement and sock, (I remember think that was really an unusual thing to say to someone) yet I was so touched by what he had just shared with me from the heart, I will never forget… for this is the ultimate a father can say to his daughter. Je t’aime Papa, and thank you for always believing in me, even when I didn’t ..you did... how blind was I not to see the love that was there all along. and I can only hope to be able to pass on these life lessons to my own children)

To all my flickr friends that are father’s…God bless you all, hugs...Enjoy your day!