Happy Birthday, Dad.

For the story behind this card, go to this post about Father's day from a few years ago.

I'm posting this today, because it's what would have been my dad's 81st birthday.

I was doing some serious cleaning and purging this week and found the notes to what I said at my dad's funeral about him.


Today We Celebrate a Life Well Lived: Jacki Allen Jones (written and spoken in tribute at the homegoing service for Eugene Allen)

Dad was a funny guy and often used humor to lighten a dark moment. I remember the first time I saw him break his “Allens don’t cry” rule at his grandfather’s funeral. 

When I questioned him about it later that day, he explained that it was warm in the church and he was sweating from the eyeballs.

Whenever he’d say, “I remember the time...” we’d shake our heads and respond “oh no! Not again!” because we new there was an outlandish tale to follow. To hear him tell it, he had walked on the moon and had taught Hank Aaron how to swing a bat. 

The day we moved Dad to Texas in August of 2003 could have been a very somber day, but he chose to make if fun. We laughed and joked all day long. He had a hard time accepting help from others so I advised him to just smile and say “Thank You”.  All day, he would over emphasize that smile with a thank you and look over at me as he did it to make sure I was paying attention. 

My Dad taught me some things that I couldn’t really appreciate until I became an adult. 

I learned to persevere. One of my earliest memories was of a sunny afternoon when I was about 3. My dad was determined to teach me to tie my shoes. I remember sitting there for what seemed like forever when all I really wanted  was to do was join the other kids playing outside. Most of all I remember the victorious feeling I had when I did indeed master that skill that afternoon. 

I learned to be concerned about the world around me. While other children played outside, he made us watch the entire funeral for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr on TV. Although we were very young (I was only 5),  At the time we didn’t like it, but 

he emphasized the historical importance of that event. I appreciate that now.

I learned to be faithful and keep your promises. He did what he said he was going to do and was always on time. In fact, he was always 10 minutes early.

I learned to treat others the way I wanted to be treated. The Golden Rule was ingrained in my brain by him and he lived it and set an example for us. 

I learned diligence. Anything worth doing is worth doing right. Here at Janes, he was our Junior Choir and Chancel choir director. I sang with him from age 8 until I graduated high school. We practiced to perfection and performed our songs from memory. I still remember a lot of the songs to this day. I’ve been a part of many choral programs since then and I quickly realized that not every choir director is as diligent. He  set a very high standard. 

Eugene Alonzo Allen left a mark on this world that won’t soon be forgotten. With 5 daughters, 15 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren, his legacy will live on. 

Father's Day...

I had a card I could've given to the kids to give their dad, but inspired by Christopher, my 5 year old friend, I created this one really quickly using an image from Darcie's and a message from GinaK. While I'm on the subject, I remembered that I never showed you the card The Boy made for me for Mother's Day. "The Boy" by the way seems inadequate a name anymore.  It's more like "The Tall One", or "The Man." At 5'9" or maybe 5'10" by now, he hardly looks like a boy anymore.  I know I talk about that a lot, because it seems like every time he goes to sleep, he wakes up a little taller. :) 

Anyway, he made this card for me.  He is very artistic.  One of these days I'll scan some of the sketches and drawings he does and show you just how artistic he is. 

The sun washed out the details in this picture, but he used a textured card stock and stamped the greeting in white ink.  He couldn't find a stamp that he wanted to use for the inside so he used parts of three different stamps.  "We" came from a "Welcome" and the "You" came from "Thinking of You." I was impressed. 

For Father's Day, our dear friends the Hyde family -- most of them anyway (we miss you Beth) -- came here to spend the day with us.  Michael wanted to "light up the grill".  I wish I could say that I thought of cooking steaks for the dads, but that was an afterthought.  --Or more of an unexpected opportunity.  After he cooked the burgers and dogs that I planned for our simple dinner, he decided the grill was just the perfect temperature for steak.  He and Tony stopped what they were doing and went to the store. It was so impressive that I had to snap a picture. :) 

Tony is Amanda's husband. I got a call from Amanda on Friday that she was going to be in town on Sunday with no specific plans-- so of course that meant that they needed to come here. We had a delightful time with them and the Hydes.
Tony let me "see" his superbowl ring.  I don't know anything about football, but that ring was impressive.  My first thought after holding it was, "I need to take a picture of this!"  The last few pictures are of the kids goofing off with the web cam. Be blessed.  I'm going to be working on a card order over the next few weeks so I'll have lots of cards to show you. Until then... Be blessed!

Father's Day Reflections

I bought this stamp to make a card for my dad three years ago. Unfortunately, before I could make the card that year, he passed away in May. I haven't been able to bring myself to use this stamp for anyone else since then, because it reminded me of my dad. Over the last few weeks I've been really missing my dad a lot. I guess this is the first year since he died that I've been able to have time to reflect around this time of year. His birthday is also in June so the first year we were still grieving when his birthday and Father's day came around. The following year, my first daughter, Jannelle, graduated from high school in June. We were soooo busy getting ready for her celebration. Later that same month, I was heavily involved in my niece's wedding. ( I made invitations, programs, jewelry etc...) There was no time to think two consecutive thoughts. Last year, there was another graduation and subsequent celebration for Jillana-- and then we moved.
I guess this year, because we don't have big BIG things going on, I had more time to think.

OK, moving on to why I bought this stamp( Eureka Stamps/Biblical Impressions) for him. One of the things I loved about him was his fascination with technology. All my life I remember him buying gadgets. When cassette tapes players hit the scene in the '70's, you'd better believe we had one when they first came out. The same goes for the VCR, CD player, fax machine etc... Everybody has these things now, but he was always cutting edge. He retired early ( in his 50's) because of a health condition that mimicked arthritis. He was a musician who could no longer play his keyboard because of the condition of his hands. When he discovered a computer program that would allow him to write music again, he spent hours on the computer arranging and writing music. He sent me emails and forwards and links --all the time! Because of his limited mobility in the end, he spent a lot of time online-- connecting with family and friends and purchasing supplies, as a matter of necessity, not just convenience like I do. Soooo, that's why this stamp reminded me of him.
This is a picture of him holding me when I was close to 2 years old.

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Our Father's Day celebration here yesterday was a lot of fun. My husband was really pumped this year. He had done some major cute hinting (--like I did with the Cricut last Christmas), so he was really excited when he received exactly what he asked for.


The picture is so dark because we opened gifts last night after Jannelle came home from work because he wanted all his babies to be present. You can see the card I made for him back in February on the table beside him.
Julie made him his favorite coconut cake.


It was a special day.