If You Want My Advice #2

I love giving gifts.  I spend time thinking about the person and try to find that perfect gift, the thing that they really need or have mentioned that they really want.  I try to find something that matches them.  I love getting gifts.  I love it when someone comes up with something just right for me.  Something that tells me that they have put some thought into the gift-giving experience.  But I am also convinced that the perfect gift can be something that isn't a thing at all.  We all have plenty of things, don't we?  How many times have you said "Why do we have so much stuff?!"  Last year for Christmas, I gave my Dad two tickets to a Harlem Globetrotters game, one for him and one for me.  We went to the game together.  And it was a fun time.  Just doing something together.  This year my daughter gave me and Tom two nights in Mendocino so we could explore the north coast.  That was the perfect gift.  Time away with my favorite person, seeing part of the state that we don't get to very often. 
So as I contemplated what to do for my Dad's birthday, I wanted something that would be perfect.  I was thinking about what I would want to tell him that would be special, other than "I love you."  He knows I love him.  But I've never told him what he has taught me.  So that is what I gave him.  His birthday is today.  Last night some family members gathered to celebrate his 77th birthday.  I got a nice birthday card and on a separate sheet of paper I wrote out some of the things he has taught me. 
My dad taught me to honor my commitments.  He and my mom were married for 50 years.  For the last several years of my mom's life, she was not able to get around or do much.  I never heard my dad complain about his world closing in as hers did.  Instead I saw him honor her by always being with her, by caring for her and by being a loving, attentive husband. 
My dad taught me to adapt to change.  He was a career Air Force man during the Viet Nam War and because of that, we would have to move often, sometimes with very little notice.  By his example, I learned to go with the changes without complaint, recognizing that this was the life we lived.  When my mom died, my dad grieved, but then accepted that he had to move on with his life.  He was 72 years and knew that he needed someone in his life.  So he told my brother and I that he was going to start dating, with the goal to find someone special.  And he found someone perfect for him.  Dawn was also widowed.  She cares for Dad and Dad cares for her.  They travel together, laugh together and share life.
My dad taught me to being accepting of others.  There probably are people that my dad doesn't especially like, but I can't really guess who they are because he doesn't treat people differently.  Everyone was accepted into our home. 
There are so many other things I could list that my dad taught me, but you get the point.  His birthday was the perfect chance to give my dad a special gift.