What is your name : Michele Hodel

Who do you want the poem written for: Our Father

Why do you want the poem written: It's our Father's 65th Birthday on March 8th. He has enough money to really buy anything he's ever wanted. We feel that this would mean so much more to him. We want to thank him for all the memories and experiences he's given to us by being our father.

What are the key messages you would like to send
: Our dad is selfless/generous/huge hearted and very fair and integrous Our Dad works as hard as he can everyday to afford the best for his family and the luxuries we enjoy. Spoiling us with everything we've ever wanted, but still teaching us to enjoy the simple things in life: friends, family, and nature!We want to make our Dad realize what a strong influence he has been in our lives and we (Michele, Christoph and Dominic) love him so much for that. Even though we grew up in a strict and orderly household, there was so much love, respect, and support between us and our dad. Our Dad has really prepared us for life. Even as young children, we were always respected and talked to like adults.
Dad has always lovingly supported us unconditionally in the past, giving us all the opportunities and making us what we are, now we look forward to being there for him and sharing all wonderful moments ahead of us.

Do you have any funny, sad, happy, embarrassing or otherwise memorable moments that you would like to share: These are some memories my brothers and I put together, sorry it isn't the most organized but hopefully you'll be able to paint the picture.Dad took little Michele to fly a kite in on a windy day in Brooks. Dad and I ofter took the dog Dora for walks on the farm land. The 2 of us had such a great time that particular day but suddenly I (Michele) accidentally let go of the kite. I watched in sadness as I thought my kite was gone for sure. I then saw my dad run after the kite, across the dirt farm fields and catch my kite. My hero.
In St.Moritz, Christoph was still a baby, being pulled around in a little toboggan. While mom and Chris(with a bad diaper rash) sat at the top of the mountain in a restaurant, dad and Mich?le took the small wooden toboggan and slide down the mountain path, almost running into a drawn sleigh. He always would talk about one of his favorite race horses - Shake the Hand. Our dad was born and spent his childhood in Switzerland. It would always be a place he was very proud of and wanted us to appreciate and love the country.
Taking us to the horse races in Aarau to enjoy a bratwurst and some winning tickets. He'd take the time to explain to us how to spot the winning horses. We'd get 5 to 10 Swiss franks each and see who could make (or loose) the most.
Hiking in Davos, always challenging us and FORGING AHEAD. We have honestly never been able to keep up to him. We'd find him at the end of the path, in a small Swiss mountain cabin, eating the stinkiest Swiss cheese and he's just look at us trying to catch our breath and laugh
Skiing in Parsenn: mom and him langlaufing in matching outfits, while the kids took ski lessons. At times he was very busy at work he'd drive back and forth from Zurich to Davos to that he'd be able to spend time with us on our mountain vacations.Our dad always celebrates achievements and special events. He always makes such a big deal out of things but it's these events that we always remember.-time he took us up in the helicopter ride in Canmore - everyone had motion sickness but him -how he is always full of surprises: all our cars have been unknown till the last second -always pays attention to the detail: eg. putting a huge ribbon around Michele's surprise pathfinder, or showing us a car at the dealership...then telling us it's ours -"showing" us the belt when we misbehaved by slowly lifting up his shirt
-trips to Del Coronado in San Fransisco: going for those 6.30am walks, woken up by that cold wet face towel to his delight -each of us taking turns putting suntan lotion all over him in huge amounts so that he was whiter then the white sand
Always proud of us ie. introducing us to all of his friends and business associates - childen are the best investment he's ever made. Even when we were very young, we were aways in suits and dresses on special occations and always expected to act like pefect little people.
Playing golf: not his thing, so instead he used to still walk with us and pick up all the balls around the course, we would come away with 5x more balls than we started with, his entrepeneurial streak cannot be squashed
Love of animals: especially horses - he is the ANIMAL WHISPERER..having that special connection with animals. Whenever his friends had puppies, he always made it a point to bring Michele to see them. I know deep down he's the one with the puppy love. Dad defended us from the "NAKED PROWLER" in Lugano on that hot summer night when a stranger tried to climb through the bathroom window.Our dad has taken us all over the world: austria, germany, greece, arizona, switzerland, hawaii, mexico, california, philippines,
-organizing Greece yachting trip w/ anal retentive Egon Krauss (dad was the neutral party in the war between Hodel Jrs. and Krauss Sr. esp. at that one breakfast). Another sick twist was his expectation for Michele to wake up every morning to serve him his "Morning Tea". He'd lay there in his speedo leopard print underwear! Our dad's ridiculous pain tolerance ie: eating spoonfulls of homemade indian chili, he would sweat more than in the sauna, and then offer us some with a mischeivious smile His heartwarming smile, breaking his wolf like glare - He has the most beautiful ice blue eyes.When eating hamburgers, he always eats the patty and give us the bun.In Hawaii, our dad proved to Chris and Dominic he was the Shuffleboard champion.
Letting/Trusting us to travel the world by ourselves at a young age. How was he suppose to know Michele would run with the Bulls in Spain, work in an Irish Pub named Dirty Nelly's in Greece and get eaten alive by Sandflies in Australia all before reaching 20.Our dad always wants us to try new things, such as different foods, traveling to different places,meeting new people. His snoring that rivals a moose call in rutting season.Some of his favorite sayings:
If we ask for something rediculous - "Do you have a fever?"He never forgets to say "Thank-you"
If we order a large meal at a restaurant "Good night sir!"When we'd get 98% on a test in school "100% is the best.""Family is number one"

Do you have any other comments or thoughts : Our dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's about 5 years ago. There has been a drastic change in his ability to perform everyday functions and to even express his emotions. It has taken an enormous toll on his pride, but he still gets up every day at 5am to go to work till 7pm. He owns his own companies so he's very proud of what he's built. It's saddens us so much watching this disease take over our dad's life. We want him to make sure he remembers all to the wonderful opportunities and life experiences he's given us. I know this is coming in late but your immediate attention to this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much.

What style of poem would you prefer (happy, sad, romantic etc.): Happy, loving

Please choose which package you would prefer:Deluxe

Do you have any last comments or thoughts: I know this is coming in late but your immediate attention to this would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much.

Thank You

Hello, our wonderful father, you have more than money can buy, so we thought we'd share a few words, or at least, we'll give it our very best try. You see, you are so very selfless, at times, your heart is too big for your chest and Dad, just for the record, we want you to know that you're the best. You're generous and so very fair, and your middle name is integrity, and we'd just like to thank you for being you, you've made all our worlds a better place to be. You've spoilt us with everything we've ever wanted, and to do that you've worked so very hard, and of course, life always takes it's toll, and we know, you've been left a little battle scarred. But you've always taught us the simple things in life, enjoy family, nature and not to forget our friends, and that is something that will stay with us forever, long after our earthbound journey ends. You've had such a strong influence on us all, and we'd like to thank you for sharing your light, because your love has shone unconditionally and it always kept on burning so very bright. We grew up in a strict and orderly household, but there was always love, respect and support, and you've shown us all so much in life, we're very grateful for all the lessons that you've taught. Even as young children, we were spoken to like adults, and that prepared us well for the road ahead, like the time you took us hiking in Davos, always challenging us and forging right ahead. Actually, you've given us so many wonderful memories, in fact, there's too many to individually list, just know that everyone is sincerely treasured, there's not one that we would have missed. I remember when you took little Michele kite flying, it was a windy day and I accidentally let the kite go, I watched in sadness as my kite blew away, but you retrieved it across the farm fields - my hero! You took us tobogganing in St. Moritz, we spent many a happy hour in the homeland we'd go to the horse races in Aarau, that's where you taught us to Shake The Hand. We had ski lessons in Parsenn, Mom and you langlaufing in outfits that'd match, you'd drive back and forth from Zurich to Davos, it probably gave you the time for your plans to hatch. You always celebrate achievements and special events, and it's those memories that'll stay with us for evermore, all our cars have been unknown until the last second, when we visited car dealers we never knew what was in store. You've always been so very proud of us, your children are the best investment you've ever made, we were always in suits and dresses on special occasions, and perfect little people was the role that we played. Golf is definitely not your thing, but you'd still pick up balls as you went around, your entrepreneurial streak cannot be squashed and for every ball we lost there were five that you found. You are the ultimate ANIMAL WHISPERER, I know deep down you're the one with puppy love, and we've been blessed to have you in our lives, in fact, we feel like we've been blessed by the heavens above. You've taken us all over the world, and the Naked Prowler is a story we won't share, and in Greece we went yachting with Egon Krauss, and I served him tea in his Speedo leopard print underwear. You've let and trusted us to travel the world, and I guess this will come as no surprise, but by the time I was twenty, I'd ran with the bulls, worked in a pub and had been eaten by sandflies. Your heart warming smile breaks your wolf like glare, and spoonfuls of homemade Indian chilli make you sweat, you always give us the patty and eat the bun, and you are undoubtedly the shuffleboard champion (no bet). Your snoring rivals a moose in rutting season, and some of your sayings are a lot of fun, "Do you have a fever", "Good night Sir!", "100% is the best" and of course "Family is number one". And there are many more stories we could tell, there are so many other great times we've had, but I know you know that time waits for no man, and we just wanted to say thanks, so thank you Dad. And thank you is your most favorite saying of all, and I reckon that's so true, so very apt, because they are the words we want to say to you, and unlike the pathfinder, they're hard to get wrapped. So, we'll finish by saying "we love you", I guess that's really what these words are for, here's to you Dad, you're wonderful, and here's to at least another sixty five more.

Copyright www.agiftofpoetry.co.uk 2008

Allen Jesson

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