Last year my dad turned 60. I thought it was a big deal so my brothers and I wheeled and dealed for about three weeks to plan a surprise party down in Port O’Connor for him. And we actually surprised him. His sister came down from near Dallas and a few of his good friends came as well, both of my brothers and all of our families were there. We hit up dad’s old college buddy and used his super nice fishing lodge. Casey’s job was to distract my dad and keep him busy that day. He started by going out fishing with my dad and one of his buddies, at some point in the morning I get this text message – “I’m not catching any fish, but your dad is. He also made me a margarita with enough alcohol in it to kill every germ on planet earth. You owe me big time.” The A&M football game provided the final distraction and dad showed up actually surprised, we had a bunch of food and fun. This year I got him a card and a bag of jalapeno’s from my garden. Yeah, I set the bar way too high last year.

I am my daddy’s girl. When I was little I always knew that if anything bad happened we’d be okay because my dad could do just about anything. If it flooded we had a boat and my dad could catch fish to feed us. If someone broke into our house my dad could protect us because he knew how to use a gun. You get the idea. My dad protected me. He also knew when to not protect me and let me learn and grow up. He taught me to work hard (I have no issues push mowing the majority of our large yard or helping build a cabinet) and to work smart. He gave me everything I ever needed to be who I am today. Thank you dad and Happy 61st Birthday!!!!