Dennis is Josh's uncle. He is the father of 9 children; the oldest and the youngest are boys, and the seven in between are girls!!! He lives in the east, so I don't see him very often. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen him, either at graduations or weddings or funerals. He is quiet and humble, he is funny and has a great sense of humor, he is a positive person and smiles a lot. Since I don't know him very well, I enlisted the help of his daughters who were enthusiastic about sharing experiences and memories of their dad.
Dennis used to own and run a dairy. One memory that all the girls had was of his nightly routine after the chores were finished. Every night, he sat in his red recliner and ate popcorn in a giant green bowl of popcorn. His favorite popcorn mixture was 2 cups popcorn and 1 cup butter, and if anyone made the popcorn for him, he would give them yummy Kraft caramels in return! He always had volunteers because they loved those caramels!
He enjoys spending his spare time at the shooting range. He is an excellent marksman, and used to compete. Jodi loved going with him to the competitions and being his "spotter". She would look through binoculars to see where he hit so he could adjust his sights accordingly. On the farm, Heidi picked up empty bullet casings as they ejected from the guns. Dennis taught her how to shoot as well. He didn't approve of one of her former boyfriends in high school--so he invited him over one day for 'shooting'. Dennis gave him a gun that had a big kick and a huge barrell and it about took Heid's boyfriend's arm off when he shot it!
Amy loved going camping with her Dad in Wisconsin and spending time with him, and she credits that for her love of camping now. One of her favorite memories was going to get wood alone with him and eating a special lunch together with just the 2 of them, which in a large family is always a treat. A fun memory was of when her and Justine played their rock music loudly, and he turned on the stereo in the living room much louder than their music and play Slim Whitman music (yodeling). They all ended up laughing!
Jodi said her dad has always loved animals, and she loves the calm, peaceful feeling out on the beautiful farm. She tells that he is quite the handyman. He is one of those people that can read a book on how to do something, then go and do it well. He is always very helpful with home repair projects and also mechanics. When thinking of her dad, she always thinks of his pomeranian dog Sparky, because they were inseperable. She has really enjoyed getting to know her Dad better since moving out by him!
Heidi recalls that her dad was always whistling "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today" and other church hymns while feeding the cows. When they were little, he'd let the kids ride on the tractor while he scraped the corals and they'd duck their heads so they wouldn't hit the wooden beams on the top of the sheds! One fun memory from her childhood was following her dad around as he lifted hay bales for feeding. The kids would run around and try and catch the mice that would be underneath. He waited for them to get ready before he lifted the bales so they could catch the mice!
Rachel remembers when her dad taught her to drive the red truck. He needed help while picking up hay bales. Even though she couldn't even see over the steering wheel, he told her to just keep the wheel straight and he would yell for her to stop. She felt so special "driving" her dad's truck! She has fond memories of his beat-up Honda motorcycle that he took them for rides on. One day, they were coming home from the store together. She had some candy and an apple in a brown paper bag and it hit the chain and ripped. She lost everything, but he stopped to pick it up and gave her a peice of chocolate since some of her penny candy was gross. She misses being around him now.
It has been so fun learning more about Dennis! I love each one of his children, they are so fun to be around! I love seeing them all together at family functions, and being a part of their big happy parties! I'm grateful for his influence in their lives, because in turn, each one of them has affected my life in a positive way!
1 comment:
Thank you for all the stories! It was fun getting to know Uncle Dennis better.
--Tiffany
Post a Comment