Happy Father's Day

In honor of the Dads in my life, I want to write a bit.

Daddy, of course was the first Dad in my life. He called me his "little Tweedy". Even when I was in High School, I was "Tweedy".
As the middle girl of three and before my brother was born, I decided Daddy needed a boy. He had three girls, so he needed a boy. Mom had my older sister who was "Suzie Homemaker", so I assigned myself as Daddy's "boy".
I went to the shop with him and learned about mechanics and building. He gave me a chisel and a board to play with while he built cabinets. I played with the ball barrings when he was machining. I watched him build the house, I learned to lay brick, I mixed the mortar so it was ready for him when he came home from work.
I learned to milk the cow and was the substitute when he had to go away on a business trip.

The next two dads, were my grandpas. My Grandpas would hold me on their knees, take us on rides on the tractors, and there was always a dish of candy waiting us when we came to visit. Grandpa S got us lemon drops and M&M's.
These three men served as the dads in my life as I grew up until I met my future husband and married him. My Father-in-law and my husband were the next two Fathers in my life.

My sweet Husband was such a natural dad when our first was born. I was so surprised how perfectly that baby fit in his arms and how easily he adjusted to being a dad. Because he was so eager to bond with this baby, he fed him baby food the first week of his life. He fed him blueberry buckle baby food. Of course my son was NOT interested in nursing, his dad was much more fun. I didn't make it even a month nursing this son. I don't begrudge him of sabotaging me, I understand how excited he was about being his father. It is rather sweet now, because this son's wife makes a big deal of buying the blueberry buckle baby food when they are ready to wean their baby. They wait until we are together then give Grandpa a spoon and the bottle of baby food and allow him to feed the baby the first spoonful of solid food.

My father-in-law was a good dad. My husband was the oldest child, so this was a new thing to have a child get engaged. I felt very welcomed by his parents, and his dad really put on a production of taking pictures of us and making a big deal of our engagement. He was a kind father-in-law to me. He loved his grandchildren and they all loved him.

My Daddy and my father-in-law have both died. I miss them, and sometimes feel their spirits nearby. My father-in-law told us before he died that he was going to apply for Guardian Angel and would be watching over us. I truly believe that God gave him that assignment.

Now we come full circle. All my sons are fathers. One is still awaiting the birth of his first baby, but they all are fathers. Today as they called to wish their dad a Happy Father's day, I wished them the same. You boys had an excellent example of what a wonderful dad is. I know you all love him dearly, and rightly so. I see you carrying on the things your dad did. You are all good young men.

I cannot complete this post without mentioning my in-law sons who are or will be wonderful fathers as well. Thank you, all three of you, for taking such good care of my daughters, for loving them, for providing for them, for being such wonderful dads to my grandchildren.

These men are all heroes. They get up every.single.morning and head off to work. They do this because they want to provide for their families. They do the things we girls can't or don't want to do, and they do it willingly. They stomp on the spiders, reach that thing off the high shelf, they get up in the night with the baby and change it before bringing it to us, they do the hard labor and heavy lifting, among other unpleasant things.

They honor the scripture, Gen. 3:19

"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground. . ."

The Fathers In My Life are all wonderful men. I am so glad they are all a part my life. I truly feel blessed.

Happy Father's Day to you all.

~a