From My Perspective: A Tribute to Dads

Although we celebrated Father's Day this past weekend, I felt it might be a good time to pay a tribute to Dads – especially mine – for just one more week. In my opinion, dads, like moms, really do deserve more than just a day to celebrate them.

For those of you that don't know me personally, I lost my Dad almost two years ago to cancer. Father's Day has become one of "those" holidays where I find myself missing him just a little bit more than usual (along with his birthday, Christmas, and the anniversary of his death). I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Rather than being all teary-eyed about the fact he's not physically with me again this year, I thought it might be fun to honor him and remember the good times, the memories, and to smile because, well, it's just important to do that.

Many of you in Lincoln knew my Dad, Jim Daugherty. Most people liked him. Let's face it, for the most part, he was a pretty likeable guy. He travelled a lot for work, so he didn't get to be involved in a lot of things in town, but he always cared. When he owned his business here, he cared deeply for his employees. When the time came where he had to lay people off, it hurt him. When it came time to sell his business, I think that hurt him too.

What I remember most about my Dad is how he seemed to make friends absolutely everywhere he went. I've always loved the quote "Strangers are only friends we haven't met yet," but my Dad was living proof of it. He touched so many lives wherever he happened to be.

One of my favorite examples of this was when he was bringing me and my daughter to Lincoln for the first time to visit before we moved here. Jessalyn and I were traveling from Pennsylvania and our flight had been delayed. We were hoping to make it in time for the last flight out of Denver to Missoula and avoid camping out in the airport. My dad was also traveling that day from somewhere else, but we were all going to be on the same flight to Montana. He made that trip so many times during his travels, he'd actually made friends with and knew the ground and flight crew fairly well. Somehow, in his friendly way, he was able to convince them to hold that flight the ten minutes that our plane had been delayed. Jes and I ran through the airport to get there, and there he was, waiting and smiling. Talk about a good memory!

For those of you who did know him, you know how involved and passionate he was about the Ducks Unlimited organization – another place where he made friends all over the world.

During his last couple of years, he and I would travel what he called his "trap line." He was the silent bid auction chair for the state of Montana and had easels with framed prints all over the state. Those last couple years, I went with him to exchange the prints out and collect the bid slips. Those trips with him were undoubtedly some of my favorite memories of just him and me spending time together doing something he loved. When we would stay overnight somewhere, he knew the front desk people and the servers at the restaurants where we would stop for breakfast and lunch. He could tell you all about them, and they always had a smile and a story for him as well. Strangers that became friends.

To this day when I travel through the Denver airport, I always make sure to stop at his favorite restaurant and have his favorite server, Abby, take care of me. She shares her memories of my Dad and helps me build more of my own memories, even though he's not here anymore. I think that's referred to as a legacy.

Each family's mothers and fathers have their legacies. I feel very proud to know my Dad's, and to have been part of it. If you don't know you're your parent's legacy, I invite you to look for it, to discover it, and to be part of it, because when the time comes that they are no longer with you, it will help you smile. It will help you remember, and it will help ease "those" holidays where you miss them just a little bit more.

To all the Dads out there, I hope you had a wonderful day doing something you love and spending it with those who matter to you.