In Memory of My Dad...

Born: November 30th, 1944

Passed Away: November 15th, 2010

Laid to rest: November 19th, 2010

The past few nights I've been dreaming about my dad. They've been pretty weird dreams but it was still nice to be able to be with him, even if it was just a dream!

I thought I'd do a special post in memory of him and say a few things about him; things I want to share; things I want to remember about him and just to remind myself of the man he was...and still is!

He was such a cute kid. I loved all his curly hair!

He was the oldest of four children. Here he is with his little brothers Robert and Garry and his little sister Linda.

I always remember my dad being very strong physically. He was very tall too. Here he is with his dad, Bert Hyrum Frandsen

My dad's absolute favorite place to be was in the mountains. He would've lived there if life would have allowed it. Every summer my brother and I would fly out and spend our summers in Utah and a significant amount of that time was spent in the good 'ol Utah mountains.

I LOVED it!!!

Because of my dad, I too have a love for camping, roughing it in the woods, making s'mores, sitting around the campfire talking, playing games and making up skits to perform. Those were the some of the BEST memories of my childhood.

My dad remarried when I was young so when my brother and I would fly out for visits, we had a brand new family to play with; three step sisters and two half siblings. Again, some of my most precious memories. We had some good times together. We called ourselves "The Kids Cooperation of Imagination". We put on plays in the backyard (The Wizard of Oz was my fav), had fashion shows and we even had our own lip syncing band. Of course my dad was there in support, sitting in the audience through endless hours of our performances, smiling the whole way through.

Here we all are celebrating Father's Day I believe!

At one point, a long time ago, there were FIVE GENERATIONS of Frandsen's on this earth and they got a picture to prove it. My Great Grandma died many, many years ago but shortly before my dad's passing last November, my niece had a baby boy which meant two things...1) Five generations were back on the earth and 2) my dad became a GREAT GRANDPA at age 65! Crazy! I don't think he ever got to meet him though...he was just too sick.

My dad was huge into working out and one day he decided to get into martial arts. I think he was the oldest guy in all of Price who had this as a hobby but he was really GOOD though. I believe that he even took first in a couple divisions. He kicked butt that's for sure. And yes, my dad is the tall one in the back with the long, permed hair! Haha!

He had a few professions in his lifetime. First and foremost he was a Registered Nurse and he was dang good at it too! He was an RN for many, many years!

He took a break from nursing and became a campground manager at a campsite in California. We even made a trip out there to visit once to see what he did! Living in the mountains full time...my dad's dream for sure!!!

Side note: when dad was young, he used to call chipmunks, pea chunks, so that's what us kids called them growing up too. So now whenever I go camping with my family, that's what we call them. It's really fun to hear Lydia say, "Let's go on a walk and look for pea chunks!" It's like a little piece of my dad has stayed with us! I like that!

He even took a stab at trucking for a while. He worked for North American. He said it was pretty lonely though.

My dad had a huge love for music (that's definitely where I get my passion and talent...from my dad)! He had a gorgeous tenor voice and could sing anything so beautifully!

He also played the accordion and he was awesome at it too! When he was young he even made it on a few television/talent shows playing it!

Although we popped in and out of each other's lives a lot the past 31 years, I still had a deep love for my father! The past three years spent with him has meant the world to me and I owe my Heavenly Father so much for reuniting us so we could share his final chapter on this earth together!

I'm grateful that my dad could meet my daughter and my son. I'm grateful for our talks, our crying sessions together and our walks down memory lane, reuniting after years of being apart. We can never get those years back but I am so grateful for what we did have. We were able to mend broken wounds and I was able to be there to comfort him and sit by his side during his worst time, his battle with cancer.

I can't believe I was blessed enough to be brought back into my dad's life at the perfect time. We had six months of catching up before the news came that he had cancer. I know that my dad was so happy to be reunited with his seven children and what a wonderful thing that we could all be there for my dad, to let him know that in his darkest hour, he wasn't alone, all was forgiven and we could all be at peace with one another!

This is how I want to remember my dad! His mountain man beard, happy and jolly as could be. His laugh was awesome. I always loved his laugh!

He always did this thing where he tweaked your knees. I now do this to Lydia and we laugh! It's the little things like this that will always keep my dad with me!

As I age, my memory will fade but I will always try to keep those things with me my dad did that I loved so much so they can be passed down to my children and great grandchildren.
I love you dad! May God be with you til we meet again.