A happy belated Father’s Day. It’s only fitting to share how my father, Mark Jobin, played a critical role in helping us get established in 2018 and 2019. My dad has always done whatever was required to support me and my five siblings.
Most people don’t know this, but in 2017 I lost nearly everything in a difficult divorce — though I was able to walk away with my daughter, Peyton, who was two and a half. I didn’t have many options for picking up the pieces and building a new life for the two of us. But my dad did what he’s always done: he offered us shelter in a storm.
In 2018, Casey and I started Jobin Roofing on a shoestring budget. Dad kept supporting us and said that if we were chasing our dream, he had our backs. Sometimes that meant chipping in on material deliveries — which is saying a lot, since it often meant him driving into Portland after just retiring from the Portland VA, where he’d spent decades commuting from Vancouver.
He was such a good sport and supporter. I’ll never forget the time a supplier accidentally loaded his roof with materials — they mixed up our billing address with the delivery address — and he just rolled with it. Many a day, Casey and I would work from sunup to sundown and come home to a hot meal waiting for us.
He helped in countless ways with Peyton, too. The two would watch the same Bugs Bunny and classic Mickey Mouse cartoons that we watched with him when we were knee-high.
All this is to say that my brother and I wouldn’t be where we are without his love and support. It’s easy to focus on how our parents are flawed, but becoming a father myself — feeling that strong desire to protect, love, and support Peyton — along with my hard season in 2017 and his support in our early years, gave me a newfound appreciation for the man and father he is.
I feel so blessed to be able to spoil him now — to bless him in the ways I know he sacrificed to take care of us all. I love and respect the hell out of you, Dad!
— Brendan Jobin
