Father's Day

Father's Day is a good time to recall favourite stories about your Dad.

My siblings and I are blessed to have a father who has gone out of his way to provide favourite stories. Here's a fairly recent one.

Our parents enjoy good health, and although Dad is crowding 90 and Mom isn't far behind, they live full and active lives. Mom thinks Dad's life is a little too active, and she has actively lobbied for a ban on ladder work, as in he's still allowed to use a chainsaw, but not on a ladder. No more ladders for anything. His ladder days were well and truly behind them.

One day Mom is out for a spot of shopping, and Dad figures this is just the time to nip up on the roof and nip off that tree branch that's been brushing up against the eave trough. Drags out the 24' extension ladder and clambers on the roof with a pair of pruning shears.

While he's busy nipping the offending branch, a gust of wind blows the ladder over.

Oopsie!

Luckily, he's got his cell in his pocket. He calls my brother, who is ten minutes away, explains the situation, and sits tight.

As luck would have it, Mom got home before my brother got there to rescue Dad off the roof. 

Busted!

Well, not quite. He ducks down on the roof so she can't see him. She goes in the house, can't find him, and comes back out. Walks around the house, finds the ladder on the ground but can't find him. She figures he fell off the ladder but must have had his phone on him to call the ambulance, so he's probably in the hospital...

Just then my brother pulls in, and he obviously couldn't vouch for Mom's hospital theory, so the cat was out of the bag, so to speak.

Mom's last word on the matter; "You can just stay up there as far as I'm concerned."

Thanks for all the great stories, Dad, and for being such an inspirational role model!

Happy Father's Day!