Father’s Day Without Dad

June 18th, 2017
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daddy drawing

 

Sometimes the most profound moments can happen in the middle of doing something ordinary.

My Brother, Tom, and I were recently grocery shopping for our Mom.  At 86, our Mom has paid her dues and shouldn’t have to put even her little toe inside a grocery store anymore.  Sometimes she does like to get out and do her own errands and browse around the grocery store but on this particular day she was tired and needed some essentials so my brother and I decided to go for her.

Let me pause here to quickly tell you a little … Read More

Daddy’s Home

June 19th, 2016
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You learn a lot about how to navigate the ups and downs of life by watching your parents. I know I did. The people in charge of raising us, for better or worse, are the people who have the first opportunity at influencing us.  Even when we begin to think we have life figured out for ourselves, we may still think back to something that one of our parents did or said and think to ourselves, “I wonder how they did that?”  “I wonder how they knew that?”  Or  perhaps your parents weren’t so wonderful and you might be thinking, … Read More

Daddy’s Way

June 15th, 2014
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I wonder what our lives would be like today if he were still alive? This question keeps rolling over in my mind as I stand in a stationary store, browsing through the Father’s Day cards, trying to find a card to give my wonderful 87-year-old Dad but also thinking of the emptiness of the day for my son whose father died when he was thirteen years old. Of course there is no way to know what life would be like if my husband, my son’s father, was still alive and with us, but that doesn’t stop my meandering mind from… Read More

Your Dad Is Here

June 16th, 2013
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I see my husband in my son in small ways:  the way he rolls up his long sleeved shirts, the set of his jaw when he is annoyed or determined to do something he really wants to accomplish and the way he plays chicken with his car’s gas tank and won’t fill it up until it is almost empty. When I see those traits it is bittersweet: they make me laugh and but they also make me feel a little sad and wistful.    “He is still with us,” I think to myself.  My husband had a very strong personality so… Read More

Fathers & Sons

June 15th, 2013
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Today I’m going to visit my Dad and celebrate Father’s Day a day early. My son won’t be joining me because he is out of town visiting his girlfriend.  Even if my son were here in town, I would still be emotionally torn on Father’s Day.My Dad is still alive and our family is lucky and blessed to have him. But my son’s father, who was also my husband, died nine years ago and the celebration of Father’s Day makes me feel guilty and conflicted. Guilty because my father is alive and his isn’t.  Conflicted because I want to make… Read More

Daddy’s Office Time

June 18th, 2012
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From a child’s point of view, the place where their parents work can be a place they dislike because it pulls their parent away from them.  Parents spend a lot of time at work and children may feel that they are competing with what goes on in the office.  “If you didn’t have to work, you could be with me,” is sometimes what a child may think. But what if your memories of your parent and their relationship with their work and their office is positive and you can’t imagine your parent doing anything else but being in their office? … Read More

Daddies Day

June 19th, 2011
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This post is a big shout out to all of the wonderful men out there who love and provide for their beautiful children.  If your Dad is no longer alive, I hope you tell funny and sentimental stories about him today or think about the special things you did together.  I’d also like to give some recognition to the fantastic men who continually reach out to the children who need a Dad in their lives. Father’s Day is a celebration of all Dads and all of the important emotional and material contributions they make for the good of their families… Read More