So here's the short of it, 
I couldn't be any luckier - Gene Howard was my Dad.

And here's the long

Today Dad would have been 86 years old.

I am extremely lucky that Gene Howard was my Dad. As I think back over my memories of growing up with him, I can think of so many times that he was there in just the right way. I can remember riding on his shoulders as a small girl, and how he would tease me with snakes, and worms, and bugs. Mostly, I remember that he believed in me.  I knew that he believed I was beautiful, and that he loved me.  I also knew that he would always be there when I needed him. I remember when I first began to have opinions that I had thought about for myself, he was very proud of me - and I think that continued even though after I became an adult our opinions often differed. 

I know also that I'm awfully lucky that Mom and Dad moved here so that those last years I saw him much more often - and that now Mom is my almost neighbor.