![\"Robert](\"http:\/\/69.195.124.78\/~steffan2\/skblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Bob-Military-150x150.jpg\" "\\"Bob-Military\\"")
<\/a>Long before I was even a glint in his eye, my dad served in the military during the Korean Conflict.\u00a0 He loved the far east–particularly Japan.\u00a0 And from as far back as I remember my dad called me his tomodach–that’s Japanese for buddy.\u00a0 That’s what we were–buddies.<\/p>\nFrom my earliest memories my dad was the center of my world.\u00a0 If he was sitting in the big, My daddy was my very best teddy bear, hairy chest and all.\u00a0 As I got older, my dad was the best tucker-inner at bedtime.\u00a0 The last part of our bedtime ritual was my dad pulling the string of the music box that hung on the wall A little older and dad was the chief chicken fryer and leftover disposAll.\u00a0 My dad made the best fried chicken, ever.\u00a0 As an adult, I evolved into a good cook, but I can’t even come close to making fried chicken as good as my dad’s.\u00a0 I probably never will.\u00a0 And in our house, we weren’t allowed to waste food.\u00a0 If mom put it on your plate, you ate it–even lima beans.\u00a0 But Dad was always there to rescue us.\u00a0 Once Mom got up from the table my sister and I would pass our plates to dad and he’d scoop the food we didn’t like onto his own plate.\u00a0 I guess he might have still been hungry, I don’t know.\u00a0 But at the time, he was simply the hero who rescued me from another helping of lima beans.<\/p>\n My dad was also the dad of many platitudes.\u00a0 If there was a life lesson or a value that needed to be passed along, my dad had a saying that would fit.\u00a0 Any job worth doing is a job worth doing well.\u00a0 If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.\u00a0 These are the two I remember best.\u00a0 There are others too.\u00a0 They pop into my head at appropriate moments to remind me of lessons learned.<\/p>\n Four years ago, in 2008, my dad left on an adventure.\u00a0 For a while I\u00a0would say that I lost my father, but as time goes by I realize more and\u00a0more that he’s not lost, nor am I.\u00a0 He’s still my tomodach, and my hero, and my teacher, and he’s with me in every thought that I have–not always in the forefront, but he’s there.<\/p>\n Happy Father’s Day, Dad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As I sit watching touching stories about dads from all walks of life on CBS Sunday Morning, I find myself remembering my dad and reflecting on what he means to me. Long before I was even a glint in his … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"http:\/\/69.195.124.78\/~steffan2\/skblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Steff-Bob-Rocker-150x150.jpg\" "\\"Steff-Bob-Rocker\\"")
<\/a>black swivel rocker, I was sitting on his lap.\u00a0 If he was riding the Wheelhorse tractor around the yard, I was sitting on his lap.\u00a0 You name it.\u00a0 Wherever he was, I wanted to be.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/69.195.124.78\/~steffan2\/skblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Bob-Steffani-Lawnmower-11-150x150.jpg\" "\\"Bob-Steffani-Lawnmower-1\\"")
<\/a>by the door.\u00a0 I used to love this part so much that on those nights I didn’t fall to sleep right away, I would holler out into the living room that he forgot to play the music box.\u00a0 I must\u00a0have not fallen asleep a lot, because my dad added another part to our bedtime ritual.\u00a0 Right before pulling the string on\u00a0my musicbox, my dad would say.\u00a0 “Now don’t say I didn’t ’cause I did.”\u00a0 Then I would giggle and he’d pull the string.\u00a0 I don’t remember, but I’m betting I’d still holler that he forgot.<\/p>\n![\"Robert](\"http:\/\/69.195.124.78\/~steffan2\/skblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Dad.jpg\" "\\"Dad\\"")
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