Lunch with Barbara Bloom

Today would have been my father's 111th birthday.  It doesn't seem possible that my years without him have been more than my years with him on this earth.  Yet, I have so many special memories of him.  I thought I would share one today to honor him on his birthday.  :)

The summer I was 8 years old my mother decided to hire someone--a teenager--to babysit me and clean the house.  I still remember the gal's name--Barbara Bloom.  She and I did not hit it off so well. I probably wasn't the easiest child to babysit, but she wasn't the greatest babysitter either.  One day she fixed me something for lunch that I didn't like.  My father came home for lunch, so I told him that I didn't want to eat what she fixed.  He told me that I didn't have to eat it.  Needless to say, this didn't go over so well with Barbara Bloom, and she gave me a scathing lecture after he went back to work. Yet, I was satisfied because I had my father on my side.

The next summer I begged my mother not to hire another babysitter.  I convinced her that I could take care of myself better than any babysitter could.  My days with "Barbara Blooms" were over.  YEAH!!!

   

Father's Day 2016

In honor of my father (Daniel Henry McCauley) this 2016 Father's Day who is now on the other side of veil,  I thought I could share some tidbits about him on our family blog.  My father only had a 7th or 8th grade education, but he was one of the brightest people I have ever known, and he so valued education.  After I had graduated from college and was teaching in Salt Lake City, Utah, I would still go home to Graham, Washington in the summer.  One tradition my father and I had during these summer visits was for me to do as much I could on the daily newspaper crossword puzzle, and then he would finish it!  He was adamant about watching educational programs on TV and couldn't understand why I wasn't more interested (which I am now, probably because of his example!).  The day I graduated from BYU with my undergraduate degree, my dad asked me when I was going to get my master's.

Dancing

Thinking of my dad today.  My father, Daniel Henry McCauley, was not only not LDS, but dancing was definitely not one of his favorite activities.  Yet, He always went to the Daddy/Daughter dances with me when I was in Primary.  He also escorted me to the Gold & Green Ball when I was 18.   Each day I treasure my father more!