To: Diane... From: Dad

To help celebrate Father’s Day this weekend, I have a “reverse” Father’s Day gift to share with you, a gift that was from my dad to me.

My dad passed away last December. He was 87. This is the first Father’s Day that he won’t be around and I didn’t need to find him a gift, or take him his favorite sticky buns. But I just received a gift from him.

My dad was a DIYer and loved woodworking. His dream was to build a boat, he built many models of sailboats and lots of other items that my mom, or one of my siblings or I asked him to make. He always got right to work to make whatever we requested. The finished product was always perfect in every way.

When I asked him if he would make a pencil organizer based on plans I found in an art magazine, he happily took the plans and made it for me. It was a Lazy Susan with hinged blocks of wood placed on top with holes drilled to hold the pencils. It was the best pencil organizer, EVER!

How to organize colored pencils in a studio

When I started to blog, I did less and less illustrating and the pencil organizer was not necessary for me to keep in my studioffice anymore, so I put it into storage in my basement.

Last week, I began purging and cleaning out the basement, getting rid of everything we no longer needed.

When I found the Lazy Susan base of the pencil organizer, it made me smile and I gave it a hug, fondly remembering my dad making it special just for me.

I got a little teary eyed and when I turned it over and saw what he did… I had forgotten...I really cried when I read what he stamped to the underside. Happy tears remembering my dad and all the things he did for me.

I knew I had to find a spot to use and see it every day. It won’t bring him back, but having something he made just for me fills my home with love and meaning.

I put it on the center of the kitchen table that I stripped last summer – I loved it, but not the color of the polyurethane finish. It was too yellow and didn’t look like an integral part of the table.