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Father's Day Reflections: Jackie Johnson of CBS2

My Father influenced me in so many positive ways, but the three ways I think of most are his Family Values, Hard-Work Ethic, and Fun Attitude.

My Dad starting working at General Motors in Michigan at the young age of 20. He worked there for 32 more years, going 5 years without even taking a sick day! They even gave him an award for that. He worked his way up through the company. Not only did he work long hours, he also put himself through night school and eventually earned a Masters Degree. He did all this while raising a family of four. Many days he would come home from a long day of work, and go straight outside to mow the lawn, eat dinner with the family, then work on his college class work. He eventually got a double retirement.

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As hard as my Father worked, he was always there for us. Family is the most important thing to him. He always made sure we all ate dinner together, EVERY night. Helped us with our homework, school projects, coached T-Ball, helped us build snowman. You name it, he did it!

My Dad never drank. You wouldn't find him at the bar after work with his friends. He always came right home. My sister and I loved it when he would surprise my mom with flowers. Every once in a while my Dad would go play golf, but that was about it. It was all about spending time with the family when he wasn't working. Even on the weekends we would spend a day with relatives.
As hard as my Dad worked, he still knew how to have fun. He has the best sense of humor and, still to this day, is always making us laugh. When my Dad is around, I always know we will have fun and laugh!

Some of my favorite childhood memories are our family vacations. My Dad would practically turn into a prune because my sister and I didn't want to get out of the ocean or pool. We would make him throw us in the water over and over again.

My other favorite memory are those late summer nights in Michigan. Dad would be "tinkering" around the garage, fixing the lawn mower, and listening to the Detroit Tiger's baseball game on the radio. We always had great talks then.

My Dad was extremely allergic to cats. And he knew I wanted a cat so badly. So when I was in middle school, he finally let me get one. And he sneezed and his eyes watered and still he cleaned Peanut's litter box for the next 16 years. Sorry Dad.

I truly feel I have the greatest Father on Earth. Not only was he all of these things above, but he is also so full of love and kindness. I've never, to this day, met someone who didn't love my dad. He just has that effect on people.

Happy Father's Day Papa! I love you!

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