In Praise of Dads

I don't know if any of the Dads in my life are going to read this but I thought that I would take today off from talking about writing to praise all of the Dads in my life: My Father, my Pop-Pop, my Father-in-Law, and my Husband.

Let's start with my Dad.

My Dad is a really amazing guy. He took care of all of us when I was growing up. He's smart, caring, and he knows how to get to the heart of a problem to fix it. He's a man of action and a planner. Like me, he's task oriented. When I had to take my oldest son, who was then only 3 years old to have his tonsils out, I was a bit of a mess.

They would only let one of us go back with him to be with him when they put him to sleep and we decided, without much fuss, that my husband would be the best person to do that. He handles crisis situations very well and somehow the idea of watching them put my son under general anesthesia was more than I thought I could handle. I had visions of hitting the floor in a faint while my son screamed.

Anyway, my dear husband took him back and I sat in the waiting room with my father, tears forming in my eyes. We hadn't expected Dad to come that day. That sort of thing seemed to be more in Mom's realm of expertise. But she'd woken up that morning not feeling well and so she'd sent Dad to be with us. It turned out to be such a blessing that she did. If my Mom had been with me at that moment, we would have both started sobbing in our chairs.

Instead, Dad looked at me, gave my shoulders a squeeze and reminded me in that moment that I was making my son's life better. That we had made the decision to have the surgery with a lot of thought, that my 3 year old had been on antibiotic almost every month for a year and that he wasn't sleeping well. He reminded me that it was all but astounding that we have the medical ability to fix his issues with a forty-five minute operation.

His reality check, delivered in a kind way, was exactly the medicine I needed at that moment. I stopped crying. He was right. This was hard but it was the right thing to do. It was why we had decided to do it. In that second, I found my strength instead of wallowing in my temporary weakness.

It was no surprise that when my husband broke his hand and had to have surgery, Mom sent Dad to the hospital with me to wait. We ate breakfast and talked about buttered rolls. Before I knew it, the surgery was over.

I love you Dad! Happy Father's Day!

My Pop-Pop is 85 years old. He flew up this week to attend a family event and he looks fantastic. He was a constant presence in my life when I was growing up. I'm so blessed to still have him with us. This year he has both his son's with his for Father's Day. I danced with him at my wedding.

Happy Father's Day Popop! Love you!

My Father-in-Law has the best sense of humor of anyone I know. He's an animal lover, he's kind and considerate, and most importantly his attention to his children growing up, helped to make my husband the man he is today. He flew airplanes, pilots boats, and raises and breeds Border Collies. He's been all over the world but I think he would say that he'll never leave the Gulf Coast, it's his home and he rebuilt after Hurricane Katrina. Really, I couldn't ask for better family than the one I married into.

Happy Father's Day Daddy-in-Law. We all love you!

What is there really to say about my husband? When I married him I knew he would be a good father but I don't think I could possibly have understood just what a spectacular father he turned out to be. His family is everything to him. He's hugely involved with his boys, even if it means just rolling around on the ground with the boys or hitting a ball in the backyard. Truth is, he's everything to us.

We love you honey. Happy Father's Day!!

It's funny because in my writing--a-ha, you say, she is fitting in some writing here--I have so far created three really bad father figures. It's not from real life. In real life, I have the best of all possible worlds.

Tell me about your Dads!!