"My Father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person;

He believed in me." Jim Valvano

My father was an educator. He encouraged all four of his daughters to get a college degree, two of us went on to graduate school. He mentored our creativity with art projects and indulged us with almost every household pet you can imagine. And he never drew the gender line predominant in the common thought of that era that little girls are suppose to just look pretty, learn to cook and marry well. He taught us things like how to change a tire (that sure came in handy while driving through the backwoods of Tasmania in the 1980s) and tune the car; the correct way to trim a tree right (which led to a lot of climbing and getting into trouble being on the rooftop or in the garage rafters), and gave us a keen interest in watching and playing sports (my sister Andrea has always been Dad's sports pal).

He believed we could do "whatever you put your mind to doing".

I got my love of cars from Dad. It wasn't necessarily the biggest engine or how fast they could go but more how they looked as well as a continued appreciation for fine lines and beautiful features. These photos were taken on my iPhone 8+ at a recent car show. They embody my love of the auto machine as well as creative ("thumbprint") expression. I hope you enjoy them.

The greatest gift I can give my Dad these days is time. We are blessed to have both parents still guiding us as they walk towards 90 and 94 years young. So for this Father's Day I'm taking Dad to a Car Show in Folsom and then out to breakfast.

No tree climbing.