Happy Father's Day!

It's been a kind of eerie day...  I stumbled across a couple of articles this morning of how emotional and hard Father's day can be if you are celebrating without a father.  We also had a wholesaler visit our office and share with us that his father recently passed away.  He said, "no matter if you are a little kid or a grown adult, it is the hardest thing to lose your dad."  Then I was reminded of those people that are dear to me that don't have their father's here to celebrate with.  As I sit here and write this I have tears in my eyes, a lump in my throat and a tightness in my chest because I simply can't imagine a world without my father...

I'm a very lucky girl to have a dad that loves me so much.  He would tuck me in every night when I was little and have me select a music box from my collection, he would wind it up and I would fall asleep to its familiar chimes.  He would go to the "Dad and Me" breakfast at my elementary school.  He told me after every dance recital that he had a tear in his eye watching me on stage.  He wouldn't bat an eye when I would call him a number of nicknames that I had created from nowhere.  Names like, Daddy Paddy Pants and Popsi-lawn.  Don't ask, nicknames were my thing! 

He was, Running Wolf and I was, Hopping Rabbit in Indian Princesses (a father-daughter program kind of like boy scouts for girls).  I danced with him standing on his feet.  I was snotty to him when I was a teenager.  I grew closer to him while in college during a time when my family was going through a very rough patch.  I helped move him into my uncle's basement while he and my mother needed time and space to discover that they ultimately couldn't live without each other.  He proudly walked me down the isle to give me away... 

My father is the oldest of four boys.  He is a wonderful, kind man.  A loving husband, father and now... a grandfather.  He gets a kick out of his own jokes, he has his own unique style of dancing, and if you were ever lost in the woods with him you could relax because he has killer mountain man skills.  I absolutely adore my father.  I simply can't imagine a world without him.

If you will be celebrating this weekend without a father, you will be in my thoughts.  If you are one of the lucky ones, be sure to tell your dad how much you love him because life is too short for them not to know how you feel.

Happy Father's Day to all of the amazing men out there that bring joy to their wives and heroes to their children.  To my Popsi-lawn and my beloved husband, I love you.