Missing my Daddy

Yesterday I played the plumber.
The kids' toilet needed a ballcock replacement.
I watched my dad replace the one in the masterbath when he was here during Memorial Day weekend in '07.
I have watched my dad do a lot of things over the years which is where I learned how to do a lot of the things I do like replacing shingles (yes I climb up on the roof and fix it myself - I even taught my husband how to do it!) and replacing the ever important ballcocks.
I did call my dad because one of the nuts was giving me a headache.
I think I just needed to hear his voice.
I also think I heard him smile on the other end.
I don't think he has ever realized how much I watched him.
Or how much I learned from him.
I also don't think he realizes how much I miss him.

I was just sitting here working and Good Morning America was on the TV.
Randy Travis was a guest this morning.
He was performing.
Something hit me like a ton of bricks.
In Randy's voice I heard my dad's voice.
They way he sounds when he is singing and playing his guitar.
I miss hearing his voice, how beautiful he sounds when he sings.
I miss listening to my dad sing while watching him play the guitar ~ something he loves to do.
And just one of the many, many things he is very good at.
I'll never forget performing "Grandma's Feather Bed" by John Denver with my dad and my little sister for great-grandma's birthday in front of a billion people, or what seemed like a billion people. (Check out John Denver performing it on the Muppet Show here.) What my dad doesn't know is that thirty-some years later I still sing that song.
And I really just miss my dad.
A lot.

Today is my dad's birthday.
Today I miss him even more.

Happy Birthday, daddy, from your little girl.