Father’s Day

Today is Father’s Day and I am blessed to be surrounded by some pretty amazing fathers. I decided to share about the men that I have been blessed to know and a little fun fact about each of them.

1. My Husband – Of course I have to start with Eric. I am married to a saint that took on three preteen boys and one very squirrely wife. Fun Fact – My husband was able to communicate in four languages (English, Spanish, French and Russian) during his Navy days. (I took two years of Spanish but once we’ve reached “Bien” in a conversation, I’m out of words) Eric has continued to care for all of us for seventeen years and I feel very grateful for his love and support. He has left work on many occasions to help one of the boys during a crisis and loves being a Dad. He also continues to look bewildered on occasion to which I always reply, “It’s too late to leave…you signed the paper…” I’m also hoping that this makes up for the fact that I’ve misplaced his Father’s Day Card.
2. My Father – My parents divorced during my early childhood but my Dad worked diligently to become a major part of my life during my young adult years. Fun Fact – My Dad has been told on multiple occasions that he should not still be alive. He has survived a Quadruple-Bypass, Prostate Cancer, Multiple Stents, Defibrillator placement and having me and my siblings as offspring. I question if telling someone that they should be dead is truly therapeutic but since Dad seems to take it in stride, I’ll forgo my lecture on appropriate communication to his healthcare providers. My Dad is the happiest person I have ever met and should be included as proof that Social Integration leads to Long Life (See the Ted Talk here).
3. My Brother – My brother Dave is my twin born three years before me. He is that person that has known me to my core since birth and loves me anyway.  He is also an amazing father who still spends as much time as he can with his kids. Fun Fact – My brother’s names are Robert Scott, David Michael, and Joseph Allen. There is some odd Southern Tradition that prompts families to use their childrens middle names rather than first names.  My oldest brother is known as “Scott” and Dave grew up being “Mike”.  Dave diverged from tradition and started using his first name when he hit middle school. I started calling him Dave since I spent my preteen years following him and his friends around like a homeless puppy. The tradition was tossed aside for my youngest brother, Joe, who was able to use his actual first name…which made things much less confusing for everyone outside of the family. Eric thought I had five brothers when we got married – Robert, Scott, Dave, Mike, and Joe.
4. My Son – We will count him among the Fathers since he has a baby boy due in two months. Christopher is my firstborn and my son that taught me all about being a mother. Fun Fact – Chris decided at 26 that he didn’t like where he was in life so he joined the Army.  I cannot verbalize the respect that I have for him and his decision. He married his high school sweetheart and they do an exceptional job of taking care of each other…AND they are bringing my very first grandbaby into the world, so they have a special place in my heart.
5. The multiple men from my church community that show their kids on a daily basis how important they are. Fun Fact – If you read my last post, I talked about the men I was involved with as a young woman. I could have been very tainted about who men were in general. These men saved me from that. I have been surrounded by men that not only took care of their families but took care of my boys by showing them who men should be when I was a single mother. Thank you to Paul, Tim, Mike, Joel, Ted, Scott and so many others. You may never realize the full impact that you had on me and my feelings about relationships. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Being a father is a tough job. I’ve been extremely blessed to see some amazing men grab onto that role with love, joy, fear and all the emotions that come with wondering if you are doing it correctly. So a big thank you to all the Father’s that I know that are taking time every day to do their best to get it right. I hope you give yourself a little grace when you get it wrong…since we all do at times. Happy Father’s Day!