It’s almost that time of the year. The grills are being prepped, the white tennis shoes are making their appearance - and last but not least - the dad jokes. You guessed it, Father’s Day is coming. Okay all jokes aside, we are so excited for this opportunity to celebrate the father figures in our lives who have shaped us in countless ways.
One of the popular gifts given on Father’s Day is the tool box. You know, the box with an endless supply of silver thing-a-majigs? The one where some of the more well-worn tools are a bit rusted, and the handles are starting to slide off?
While many dads have several physical tool boxes filled with useful tools for the many projects he’s going to get around to, it’s the metaphorical tool boxes that I love most about fathers. My own father was helpful in many ways. He taught me how to work hard, to ski, how to change my car oil, to look to the future with optimism, and how to properly lick an ice cream cone. These are all great things to put in the “life skills” tool box, but my favorite memories with my dad were the ones where my dad got to whip out hisfatherly advicetool box.
In elementary school, I announced to my parents that there was a new boy in class who was my friend, but who I also had a crush on. My dad jokingly (but not really) replied, “Boys can’t be friends”. He was right. The next day my crush stole cookies out of my lunch box.
Later in life, when I was anxious the night before my Senior FFA State Competition, my dad told me, “Breathe, you’ve got this. You’ve done the work to get here, now let God take care of the rest.” I would hold on to those words for years to come.
But my favorite advice my dad ever gave me was while I was dating my now husband. My dad is a callous handed man, but definitely had a soft spot for his girls . He said, “Well the best way to tell if he’s a keeper is to bring him down [to the farm] and sort some cows. You’ll find out soon enough if he’s someone you want to have in your life”. Once again, he was right. Even though I yelled at my then boyfriend “Close the gate!” or “Watch out for Diesel, he’ll run you over.” He stayed calm, and was patient with me when I was not so patient with him. We’ve been married for two years now and it’s still the best advice I’ve ever gotten about getting married. In fact, it’s the advice I pass on to other couples because it was just that good.
There are hundreds of lessons over the years that have helped shape me into the person I am today. I can’t help but smile when I’m reminded of my dad’s loving disposition and good heart.
I couldn’t have been the only one to have gotten good advice, so I decided to ask the BrightboxTeam what advice they were given from their father or fatherly figures that have stuck with them through the years.
Dad's Advice
“You can literally do anything or be anything you want”Hannah, Marketing Director
“I’m proud of you”Bryn, Fulfillment Manager
“Don’t kid yourself; Stay Real”Kinzie, Product Manager
“The definition of sanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result” Abby,Fulfillment Specialist
“Always open the door for your date. Show her she is special, serve her.”Skyler, Sales Manager
“Hard work Pays off.” Kinley,Fulfillment Specialist
“I before E except after C.” Jacob,Box Builder
There’s plenty that could be said of fatherly figures that words can’t describe. So do it with a gift! Keep your favorite child ranking by usingBrightbox’sFather’s Day“Best Pops” Box which we created for all those pun loving dads out there. It has all things “Pops” related, and sure to get a chuckle out of him before he starts going off the deep end with his own set of puns.
XOXO,
Brightbox