My Daddi-O

With Father's Day just around the corner I thought I would take the time and talk about my favorite father. I have come to realize that I will always be a daddy's girl and it doesn't matter how old I might be somethings will just never change...NOR should they. When you look at a family picture of the five Goldmanns all together you would think that its just some random people. However over the years my brother Paul has grown to look more and more like my father. With the three of us kids you always knew we belonged because we tend to have his sense of humor. With me...well there is no doubt that I am the daughter of Mark Goldmann...from the very start my blonde hair and blue/green eyes came from him...Just by looking at me I had Goldmann written all over my face. And once you watched my movements and listened to me...Its as simple as Like Father Like Daughter. To know me is to really know my father. Sometimes we buttheads only because we are so much alike its scary. Growing up I wasn't always thrilled to be told this, but as the years have gone by I take more pride and honor by being told this. I am truly proud to say that Mark Goldmann is my father and honored to be his daughter.


As life has happened I really can't recall a time in my life that my father wasn't there. He has always went above and beyond to care for his family. He has no doubt spoiled his dolly with his time, lessons and love. He was the one that bought me my first real camera...if he never took me to Beulah Drug that day before leaving for NYC to buy what was suppose to be a cheap camera to take on my trip...I know for a fact that my passion for photography would have never been found. My father over the years always made it clear that coming home would never be a problem if I didn't have the money to do so. Thou he has spoiled me--my father has also taught me some of the most important life lessons...that of working hard...even thou at times when I work or worked for him I tended to putz around. The value of keeping your word and living up to the things you promise to do and so many more. He made sure my brothers and I were provided with all the things we needed to grow. He installed the love for the outdoors in all three of us...and thou sports were never huge in this life he was always in the stands cheering us on even if that meant missing out on that big buck or that game hunt of finding and killing that bird. He always has and still does make it clear that his family is that important to him.

I always knew my father was and is amazing...but the town and the whole state of ND (those who follow baseball) found just what one man can do and just how much he can get others to do when my father went to work to build the baseball field in Beulah. It started out as Beulah's Field of Dreams and today is known as GOLDMANN FIELD. Who would have thought that some dirt broken down sandlot field could turn into so amazing...I know who...a man with a vision. A man with a plan and dream for his sons to feel like all stars when they took the field to play ball. While he embarked on this journey to build something special for my brothers...he ended up making dreams come true for all sorts of young boys and men. Their childhoods were filled with memories of playing baseball on one of North Dakota's finest legion fields and actaully one of America's greatest legion baseball diamonds...because in a huge way under those lights at night many of them might have thought they were playing for the Mets or the Twins or the Yankees. How do I know that?? Just from standing on the mound under the lights as my father and brothers drag the infield...thats the feeling I get. And when I stand there and take in the sight that is now so amazing...I think of all the hours and years my father and really my family put into that place...and I am swept with a feeling of pride knowing that because of my father the name Goldmann stands for something pretty darn special. That field...that stadium.is my DAD. He is the grass, the buildings, the field, the stands and the fences...He is everywhere you look...One would say that that field is where he has and will leave his mark on this earth...BUT i know better...because just like that field...When it comes to my brothers and i...he is in our hearts, in our blood, in our past, in our present and in our future...when it comes to our three lives...he is and will always be so much a part of who we are and so much a part of the lives we live. Happy Father's Day to a man that I am so proud to call my dad! I Love You, Dolly.