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Tuesday night my family gathered with Sherelene and I, at our house, for a dinner and birthday celebration. \u00a0The occasion was my 70th birthday, 7 decades of life! \u00a0We had a great meal, some wonderful cake and ice cream and then my children and Sherlene gave me my birthday cards. \u00a0My daughter Catherine said, “You know \u00a0we can never surprise you with a gift, since you already have everything you want or have it on order! \u00a0But we did want you to have this from all of us.”<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0She handed me two printed pages that contained a list, it simply read;<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For your 7oth birthday we compiled a list of the 70 reasons why we love you Dad\u2026.<\/strong><\/p>\n All three of my children, their spouses, (now my children too!), and my six grand children all contributed to the list below. \u00a0Before you start reading it please know I’m not doing this blog entry to boast, brag or pat myself on the back.<\/span> \u00a0No, as I told my collected family after they made me read the list aloud, that it was the greatest gift I have ever received, or will ever receive. \u00a0I told them that for my entire life I’ve tried to live up to the standard my father set for me, to be “that guy”. \u00a0That guy that loved God and his family, that treated others as I would want to be treated, and try my very best to set an example for my little ones. \u00a0More than a few tears were shed and laughter heard, \u00a0as I read the list. \u00a0I want to encourage all fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers to leave this as your legacy when you go on to be with the Lord. \u00a0I hope you enjoy this, I know it will inspire you when you apply it to your own life!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1) You have led by example<\/p>\n 2) You shared your M&M\u2019s<\/p>\n 3) You always included us<\/p>\n 4) You are creative<\/p>\n 5) You are kind<\/p>\n 6) You make us laugh<\/p>\n 7) You are talented<\/p>\n 8) You snuggled with us<\/p>\n 9) You\u2019ve taken us to see so many amazing places<\/p>\n 10) You are a man of God<\/p>\n 11) You\u2019re not afraid to say \u201cI\u2019m sorry\u201d<\/p>\n 12) You are sensitive<\/p>\n 13) You are inspiring<\/p>\n 14) You make Christmas special for us<\/p>\n 15) You taught us to appreciate nature<\/p>\n 16) Your beard<\/p>\n 17) You make peanut butter fudge with us<\/p>\n 18) You watch movies with us<\/p>\n 19) You watch football with us<\/p>\n 20) You encourage us<\/p>\n 21) Your generosity makes our lives better<\/p>\n 22) Your willingness to do what\u2019s needed<\/p>\n 23) The way you love to create memories with the family<\/p>\n 24) You always have our backs<\/p>\n 25) Your unwavering faith in God.<\/p>\n 26) Your unwavering love and admiration for Mom.<\/p>\n 27) You\u2019re a role model for the right way to be a husband\/father.<\/p>\n 28) You are a pretty good photographer (HAHA!)<\/p>\n 29) Your sense of humor<\/p>\n 30) Your courage in witnessing of \u00a0your faith<\/p>\n 31) You taught us how NOT to react when UK loses *do not throw things<\/p>\n 32) You taught us how to drive<\/p>\n 33) You set the bar of integrity and hard work high in marriage<\/p>\n 34) You taught us to enjoy the splendor of creation<\/p>\n 35) You instilled patriotism in us<\/p>\n 36) You keep us posted on the latest\/greatest Fuji Products.<\/p>\n 37) You taught us to dream big!<\/p>\n 38) You taught us to believe in the power of prayer<\/p>\n 39) You taught us even when you get older, you can still \u201cplay\u201d<\/p>\n 40) You taught us to love and admire good music<\/p>\n 41) You taught us how to accept others, even Democrats<\/p>\n 42) You taught us generosity for the less fortunate<\/p>\n 43) You taught us to enjoy\/embrace reading<\/p>\n 44) You have never held back from showing us affection<\/p>\n 45) You taught us even at our lowest\/highest, to have faith and give thanks<\/p>\n 46) You taught us to be quick to forgive, we all will have to ask for it sometime<\/p>\n 47) You taught us laughter is the best medicine<\/p>\n 48) You taught us to never impersonate an officer LOL!<\/p>\n 49) You inspire us to see things with an artistic eye<\/p>\n 50) You taught us not to touch expensive stuff man! HAHA!<\/p>\n 51) You are dedicated to your family<\/p>\n 52) Your Santa-like beard<\/p>\n 53) You are a talented photographer<\/p>\n 54) You are loyal<\/p>\n 55) Your love for ice-cream sandwiches<\/p>\n 56) Your respect for nature and outdoors<\/p>\n 57) Your sense of adventure<\/p>\n 58) Your luscious hair<\/p>\n 59) Your love and respect for Nana<\/p>\n 60) You’re a thoughtful gift-giver<\/p>\n 61) Your faithfulness<\/p>\n 62) Your honesty<\/p>\n 63) Your great taste in music and movies<\/p>\n 64) Your generosity<\/p>\n 65) Your love for Chinese food<\/p>\n 66) Your love for hot tubs and singing Broadway musicals while in them<\/p>\n 67) Your love for cheeseburgers<\/p>\n 68) Takehomeasack<\/p>\n 69) Your love for guns<\/p>\n 70) You love your family more than anything<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I pray with all my heart that those things are true, and I’m thankful they didn’t make list of the 70 things they hate about me! \u00a0I love my family, my friends, and my brothers and sisters in Christ. \u00a0God has rewarded me with a good life, filled with peace, joy and the best family a man could ever ask for, and that, I certainly do not deserve. \u00a0Grace is unmerited favor, and I am a man living life chest deep in grace!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Blessings,<\/p>\n <\/p>\n the pilgrim<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tuesday night my family gathered with Sherelene and I, at our house, for a dinner and birthday celebration. \u00a0The occasion was my 70th birthday, 7 decades of life! \u00a0We had a great meal, some wonderful cake and ice cream and then my children and Sherlene gave me my birthday cards. \u00a0My daughter Catherine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16574"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16580,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16574\/revisions\/16580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}