Once Upon a Time … …there was a little girl about 5 years old, with shoulder- length stringy white hair, jeans with holes in the knees, and a lopsided, mischievous grin on her face. On a bright and sunny day in Oregon this little girl was out in front of her little white house on Plum Street and a handsome man in a sporty car drove up. He was there to take her hard-working single mom on a date. He said hi to the little girl. As usual she was working on a project and just kind of ignored him. But the man was persistent, and he noticed that the little girl had her bike turned on its side and was attempting quite unsuccessfully to take her training wheels off. The gentleman offered to help, and desperate, the girl accepted. Before long, the training wheels were off. The man then helped the little girl get started on her bike. He jogged alongside the bike as she weebled and wobbled down the gravel road. Before long, the little girl was riding the two wheeler all by herself. Her fair hair blowing behind her, she had a big grin on her face. The man said goodbye and then went on up to the door for his date. AND THEN, (and this is a truly amazing part), the man saw that the little girl’s mom had not just one, but three kids, Surprisingly, he did not turn and run! Luckily for the girl and her sisters, her beautiful mother was as impressed with this gentleman caller as she had been. She spent some more time with the guy named James Marshall and very soon, they were married. The new groom’s friends knew that he was in for a challenge, having never been married and now at the age of 35 marrying a woman with three children… they even wrote help on the bottom of his wedding shoes: Good Lord, if he would have known what he was in for (!) This is the story of my first memory of when I met my Dad, Marshall. I can say with certainty that I would not be the same person that I am today if it had not been for having Marshall as my Dad. I have so many wonderful memories from my childhood. He and my Mom worked really hard, as a team, to provide for me, my two older sisters and the baby sister that they had together a few years after they were married. It couldn’t have been easy on a bank officer and teacher’s salaries. But we always had what we needed and were also given great opportunities to do fun things like hiking, camping, and whitewater rafting (with my 2 year old sister tied to my Dad!). They even took us to Europe when my older sister was living over there and big believers in education, they provided me a college education. Most importantly, they survived four girl’s teenage years without strangling any of us — althought I must admit there were a few close calls! Throughout the ups and downs of life, Dad is a constant. He is the even keel that steers the ship. He is friendly, quiet, patient and loving. In the 38 years that I have known him, he has never yelled. Just seeing one look of disappointment on his face is the absolute worst punishment you could ever recieve! Dad was there for every dance recital, gymnastics meet, track meet, etc. In high school, Dad came to the games where I was cheering and explained to us cheerleaders when to do defense cheers (“push ‘em back, push ‘em back, aaaalllll the way back!) and when to do offense cheers (touchdown, touchdown, we want a touchdown!). If I was sick at home, he would come home on his lunch to check on me. At Oregon State, he came for Dads weekend and we had a blast watching Gary Peyton play basketball, going to all the fraternity parties, etc. He is a Dad to be proud of! Here’s another amazing thing: He always does the right thing. Even in the midst of those murky situations where people aren’t sure what the right thing to do is. Later they look back and say “Marshall did the right thing.” I could write a book about all of my Dad’s wonderful traits, but I don’t have time for that, and you probably don’t either. Suffice it to say that he is a wonderful example to me and my children of what a man should be. I am so very THANKFUL for my Dad!