Happy Father’s Day!!

Happy Father’s Day today to all the daddy’s out there, young and old!

I was working on some blog entries for this week and thought that I would take a minute and share with you what Father’s Day means to me.  This will be a photo-less blog entry *GASP* but hey, it’s late, and well my photo drive is downstairs and I am NOT planning on getting out of bed to get it!  How’s that for lazy for you?  LOL

I am not sure how many of you out there actually read our blogs, sometimes it feels like I am typing to the world that has no time to read anymore.  But I wanted to take a minute to share with you what this day means to me and the value of the men involved in it.

I was blessed 35 years ago to be born, along side my identical twin sister, to a man that has always been there for me.  I lived a blessed and very wonderful life with both my mom and dad and sisters.  We always had everything we needed.  We always had love and two parents that loved each other.  My dad has always worked his butt off to provide for his family and while he couldn’t always be there to play or spend his days in the sun, he provided for his family in a way that allowed my mom to always be there during the time he couldn’t.  That is hard to come by these days and I appreciate more then he knows how hard he worked for us, especially now as a mother.  I know what he sacrificed so that he could allow my mom to be home with us.

My dad has also always had this strong sense of honesty, sincerity, empathy, and a genuine way about him that makes everyone just love him.  He is honest with you no matter what.  He ran his businesses with complete honesty.  He has this strong sense of moral being that is also so very hard to come by these days.  He isn’t the buggy, touchy, kissy, feely type of dad.  He isn’t going to reach over and grab you and squeeze you.  But as a kid, when I needed that hug, he was always willing to give it.  He has always been that man that I look up to and that man that I trust his opinion on everything.  He is loved by many, including all the kids on his bus routes.  I think that alot of my personality actually comes from my dad and I am actually very proud to say that.  He has always taught me to be me, to be true to me and make no apologies for who I am.  Thats how he lives his life today and so many people love him and respect him for that.  It can make you a little nutty when you know dad’s coming over and something isn’t done the way he would have done it.  But overall, I am very proud to call my dad, my dad.  Thanks Dad for all that you have done for me and taught me and passed on to me.  I promise, when I get old and my husband calls me Andy, I will accept that with pride!

Father’s Day also has another special meaning to me.  Almost 15 years ago, I picked up a second dad, my father – in – law.  He and my husband are so much alike that some times it is scary and there are moments when my husband will get called Jim, because there is just no other way to express it.  My father in law has always been a very sincere man.  Heck, I have known him since I was 12 years old, can you believe that! My father in law is the opposite of my dad when it comes to hugs.  He can’t always help it, he just has to grab you and hug you and make sure you know that he loves you.  I can’t even tell you how many times my father in law has told me how happy he is to have his sons marry two women that he thinks so highly of.  That is also something that not many people are blessed to hear.  He always asks how I am and he is always the first to offer me any help, any help at all, just to make my life a little easier that.  He loves my children and will do anything he possibly can to help me with them.  He walks them to school, even in the rain!  I think this Father’s Day was most special for me because I get to see Jim in a whole new light through the eyes of my daughter.  He and Evelyn are the best of friends.  She just LOVES her Pa!  She even leaned in and offered him a kiss today when she saw him and everyone knows, those are not easily given away!  And I can tell you that the infatuation goes both ways.  I am so happy, and so proud to be a part of this family and to have my children get a chance to know their grandpa.  Happy Father’s Day to my second dad, you keep me sane in ways you will never know and your hugs are always welcome!

The third man in my life on this Father’s Day is my husband, Brad.  He and I have known each other since I was 12 and he was 13.  We are middle school sweethearts.  We have always loved each other and always will. We have been married almost 15 years and 3 kids later, we still love each other more each day.  When I said it was time to have kids, he was not exactly thrilled. LOL  Since then, we have had two boys and a daughter and they love their father very, very much.  I finally get to see Father’s Day through the eyes of my children.  This day may not have the same meaning for them yet, but one day it will.  One day they will also reflect on their father like I am today and they will remember him as a man that works endlessly to provide for his family and allow me to be home with them.  They will remember a man that spends his every free moment from work with them.  He plays with them, he swims with them, he plays his god awful music for them (I have officially lost that battle), he does projects with them, he spoils them with McDonalds when mom is out on photo shoots, he takes them to fun places like Air-time and the Metro Beach.  He essentially devotes his every free minute to them.  He doesn’t have hobbies. He doesn’t play golf or go to the gym.  He gets up every Saturday and Sunday more before the family and goes for his runs, showers, and drinks his coffee before anyone wakes up just so he can let me sleep in and not have to take any time away from the time he has with the kids to do those things.  Life isn’t always perfect and sometimes the boys drive him absolutely nuts, but that is the way life is sometimes.  One day they will reflect upon their childhood and see a man that hugs them, kisses them, tucks them into bed every single night, and loves them the best ways he knows how.  I am proud of my husband, not only for how far he has come, and not only for how hard he works, but I am also proud of him for the father he is to our children.  I love you Brad, thank you for being the best Father to my children that anyone could ever ask for.

That is what Father’s Day means to me.  So if you read this and feel inspired to share what Father’s Day means to you, I would love to hear it.  It is nice to know that someone reads my thoughts and hopefully many of you can relate.  Share with me your stories.  Tell me what Father’s Day means to you.

Good night to all!  XOXO!