Altrogge Family

It's that time of year. The dust on the shelves appears ten times larger than actual size. You have dreams about organizing the contents of your basement in labeled bins, chronologically, alphabetically and numerically on uniform shelves. You become overcome by intense urges to clean cracks and crevices that don't see a bit of daylight. You know what I'm talking about: spring cleaning.

The fever has hit hard at the McCombie household, and my mom hauled over some bins of old junk and treasures for me to sort through. While I threw away many pieces of meaningless trash, I came across some articles that brought back fond memories. Some were letters from my mom when I was walking through difficult times. Others were from Julie when she was learning how to write and spell. For those who are interested, I wanted to share some heart-warmin', belly-jigglin' quotes over the next couple days.

Dad,
...I appreciate when you get me things, but even more I enjoy spending time with you!!! I enjoy when you take me to play basketball and tennis and most of all I like you being around. I want you to know you don't have to be great at everything for me to love you as much as I do !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...

Love,
Jennifer
(Date unknown)

The last sentence is what got me. First, I wonder if I made a habit of disguising criticism as a compliment. More importantly, do I still come across like this? "Stephen, I appreciate you being willing to serve by doing the dishes, even if I have to re-scrub everything after you go to bed at night." Ha. Second, I don't remember my dad not being great at anything. After all, he's my dad. Even if a tennis match went to deuce, he always won! Hmm...my memory must be distorted...dad?