fathers

 

When I was young, my dad seemed invincible. I thought he could slay dragons, he stood between me and my mother during some pretty bad scenes. When I fell backwards off a swing at age three and he thought I had a concussion, he stayed up with me all night to make sure I was OK. When I was jumping on my bed and got hurt falling off at age seven, he took me to the hospital. When I had the mumps, he stayed by my side. He called me his little Princess. He was there when I first learned how to ride a bike and he was there when I got hit by a car while riding it. I had to learn to walk with crutches and he picked me up when I fell. He taught me how to drive a car and celebrated my success when I got that license. He showed me how to never get lost while in unfamiliar places, and he cried when I moved away from home.

As he aged, the roles reversed. I took care of him when my mom died, I helped to move him into a nursing home and when he lay on his hospital bed for the last time, I was at his bedside, assuring him I was there. He looked at me, tubes and wires running everywhere, happy to just hold my hand. When I told him how my soon to be new husband would always be there to care for me and how he also called me his "Princess," my dad smiled and knew it was OK to go home now, to be in peace forever.

On Father's day, please remember it is more than just a fancy Hallmark card and a BBQ in the backyard. It is the long nights spent with sick kids, the going to work to pay the never ending bills, it is dirty diapers and bad report cards. It is the fight with mom the night before and the making up the day after. All these things and more are what make a father "dad." Whatever name you call him, be it Father, Dad, Pops, or even the man who stepped into the role of dad when he needed to be...by any name he is still the one who cared for you, who cried for you, who hurt for you, who loves you. Go tell him now...just how much he means to you...

in memory of my own dad who passed away last year, and of my first father in law who was also  a dad to me...I miss you.

To my second father in law, I  got lucky once again to have a gentle caring soul in my life. I love you!!!