By Anthony Welch

With June upon us, I’d like to take a moment to thank my dad.

He’s one of the hardest-working men I’ve ever known. I’ve passed on many things to my son Jaxson that my dad taught me when I was growing up.

One of the biggest things I’ve taken from my dad is always making time for my son. When we were kids, my dad was always quick to play with us and hang out with us. Even when I was a teenager, I enjoyed hanging out with my dad. We’d hit the local basketball courts to take on other high school kids together, play ball together at the local rec center and even worked together at sports events at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

As a kid, I have fond memories of watching Bruce Lee movies with my dad. I don’t remember it, but he took me to see “Star Wars” in the theater when I was only 2. But it may have possibly inspired my love for all things “Star Wars” as a kid. And now I get to watch Jaxson share that same love for it as well.

When I was younger, I always looked forward to him coming home from his monthly Army National Guard meetings, because that meant he was stopping at King Soopers to pick up some cream-filled long johns.

Even when me or my brothers would throw a tantrum and insist we didn’t want anything to eat when my dad was making a fast food run, he always came home with something for us nonetheless.

My dad has always been very supportive of everything we do. Just like my mom, he’s been to at least one show of every single band I’ve played in. He still helps me carry drums at shows and sports my bands’ T-shirts.

My dad always goes out of his way to help everyone in the family.  When we were younger, he was quick to be one of those guys helping to push someone’s stalled car out of the road or offer a jump start to someone in need.

I think my siblings and I have all inherited those kindness and generosity traits.

Me and my dad still play basketball on occasion, but we golf a lot more. Just like when I was younger, he still compliments me on things and has that look of a proud dad. What he might not know is I’m proud of him and just excited to enjoy the extra time together.

Thank you for everything, Dad!