Would You Like a Little Gas with that Lecture?

I love my Dad. My Dad and I are a lot alike. We know each other pretty well. My Dad used to own service stations, he used to be a mechanic - once a mechanic, always a mechanic. Anyway, Dad always taught my sister and I to take care of our cars. He also is a big fan of keeping your car gassed up. This has always been important to me too. However, since I had Jude, it's not as easy, because I like to fill up at a place where you have to go in can't pay at the pump and it's a pain to get Jude in and out of the car.

So not too long ago, I noticed that I was getting low on petrol and needed to fill up soon - my car didn't give me the little warning beep and light though, so I figured it'd be ok. Anyway, I got to thinking about it one evening and knew that I needed to go out with Jude the next day and if, by chance, I were to run out of petrol, I wouldn't want to be on the side of the road with Jude. So Colin looked after Jude while I headed out to fill up the car. I made it around the corner and then the car went dead. I couldn't call Colin because I had the car with the car seat in it and he had Jude. I really didn't want to call my Dad because I knew he'd be disappointed in me, but I didn't have a choice. So, I called my Mom and Dad. They were very gracious and went right out and filled up a gas can and came to me.

So here I am, Dad's putting the gas in the tank and we're chatting. He's not giving me a hard time or anything, but I start making my excuses. Of course, he's got the answers to all of my excuses. I start to laugh and tell him that I didn't want to call him because he'd be disappointed in me. I say, "So do you want some gas with your lecture?" It wasn't a big deal really, but it just made me so thankful for my Dad - for his graciousness, for the fact the that he's conscientious, but most of all because even though I got a bit of a lecture, he brought me some gas when I hadn't been smart and I was on the side of the road. Reminds me of my other Father.