The last few weeks I’ve had a hard time figuring out how I can write a column to say “I love you” to my Dad in a way that touches him and is meaningful to others. As Conway Twitty would sing, “That’s my job and that’s what I do.” 

I’ve reflected on some of my dad’s sayings from my childhood. He is a Star Wars fan and would tell me in a Yoda voice, “Do or do not, there is no try.” It is a quote I think of often now as I train with the fire department in preparation for the Mississippi Fire Academy. 

It also comes to mind as I attempt new things like simple mechanic tasks. YouTube has helped me change several sensors on my truck. 

My dad is a good natural golfer — he can go a year without playing and soundly beat others who play all the time. I love golf but I am not good at the game. I have a hard time seeing where the ball travels and my patience runs thin. 

It was on a Par 3 hole at the Links back home that he gave me some great advice quoting golfer Alice Cooper. “Mistakes are part of the game. It’s how well you recover from them, that’s the mark of a great player,” Cooper had said.  

I believe the quote is applicable to life. We can’t always control our circumstances, or a bad lie in golf, but we can control how we react or recover. 

It’s not really a saying, but my dad loves to sing choruses or parodies of songs. “Silver and Gold,” by Burl Ives is one of his favorites each Christmas. I have noticed I tend to sing silly songs that I’ve made up. 

For example, in the movie The Lorax, the villain sings “Let it die, let it shrivel up and die.” Of course, I expounded on the song while spraying invasive privet and Japanese Climbing Fern with herbicide recently. 

I remember asking my dad why he sang little parodies and parts of songs. He told me it stemmed from the idea of, “Do I sing because I’m happy or am I happy because I sing?” I believe it’s a mixture of both. 

Often I’ll have a song stuck in my head that I’m mentally singing. One of the best songs to have stuck in your head is “Blessed Assurance.” The chorus is: “This is my story, this is my song. Praising my Savior all the day long.” 

I’m sure there are other things my dad has told me that come to mind when I need them. Thankfully, I can still talk to him and pick his mind. 

I know at some point people are left with their dad’s sayings to help guide them in life. I’m also grateful my dad helped point me to the greatest guide of them all, Jesus Christ. 

What do you remember your dad saying? 

Hunter Cloud is a reporter, fireman, and avid outdoorsman.