Jun
21
Frank Aspinall: The Man, the Myth, the Legend
Here is what I know about my dad:
1. He is all in. There is no half way, no kind of sort of. If something is going to be done its going to be done all the way. My close friends know this and have often benefitted from his thoroughness, be it building them furniture, doing house repairs, taking them to doctors’ appointments, consulting on and performing car repairs, etc. Your project is his project. I don’t think I can list all the projects my dad has done for me or with me, but I am going to try:
- Built me a doll house
- Built me a desk
- Repaired the first three cars I owned
- Built me a TV console
- Painted and repaired our rental house
- Built me a bed
- Renovated our bathroom
- Rebuilt our patio cover
- Renovated our kitchen
- Built our kitchen table
- Renovated our bathroom (again)
- Renovated our living room
- Refinished our wood floors
- Installed crown molding throughout our house
- Built custom cabinets for our bathroom
- Built our garden shed
- Built our chicken coop
- Built my art studio
- Built our teardrop trailer
- Built our guest bed
- Built countless planters and planter boxes
- Dug many ditches
- Repaired our sewer line
- Installed irrigation and water lines
- Repaired all of our home appliances (except for the one time I took the vacuum to a repair shop. Big, big mistake)
- Installed lighting throughout our house
- Been the first person I call when something goes wrong for my entire life.
And about a million other things I am sure I am leaving out (don’t worry, he’ll email me an revised list later), but you get the idea. He’s extraordinary.
2. If its important to you its important to him. And he doesn’t have to understand it to get on board. I am sure there were many times during our childhood that my dad looked at my brother and I and wondered how he ended up with us. Neither of us athletic, both of us artistic, he an engineer and soccer player. Hours spent trying to explain basic principles of math to his confused daughter, attempting to boost our enthusiasm for sports by coaching our soccer and T-ball teams (unsuccessfully I might add), surely left him all the more puzzled as to where his genes went. But despite that, you want to go to art school? Okay, let’s go tour some over spring break. Heavy metal drumming? Great, let’s convert the spare room into your drum studio and sound proof it while we are at it. My dad supports his kids the way he does everything, in a whole-hearted and most thorough capacity.
3. He is a very funny man. Frank is a fan favorite where ever he goes. Co-workers ask me about him, Home Depot checkers send their regards, the office staff at our dentist say, “Your dad was JUST here, he is SUCH a character!” Twinkly and mischevious are both appropriate adjectives to describe my dad. He delights in making us laugh and takes particular pleasure in eliciting hysterical laughter from my mom; wheezing, barely able to talk and tears streaming down her face, she finally squeaks out, “Frank! Stop it!” He looking all innocent and wide eyed replies, “What?”4. He is incredibly generous. With his time, his talents and his heart. I’ll tell him something in passing about myself or someone else and sometime later he’ll call me back have pondered the issue with a host of solutions. And a plan for how he’ll start implementation ASAP.
5. He loves his family. He may not say it frequently but it is evident in everything he does. All the projects, all the jokes, all the sage advice is my dad’s way of showing his love. I hope he knows it’s not lost on us.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you, I appreciate you, and I’m proud to be your daughter.
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