"We stand together in front of the mirror, one of us old and the other no longer young. I think of the ties that bind us: our sense of family, our sense of place, our sense of fairness. The old man next to me stands tall, walks softly, and says nothing, even when his heart is full of feeling." -Michelle Morris
I can tell you right now I will probably not make it through this post without tears. Yesterday I spent the day celebrating the man that I have been blessed to call my dad. My father is the most amazing man I know aside from my husband; they share the title. It was very hard to imagine that there could be someone that might share that spot with my dad. He held that place in my life, alone, for many years. Everyone says that I am so much like my mother (which may be true) but I am forever my father's daughter. Just ask anyone who has so much as questioned that my daddy was anything less than the hero in my life; apparently, you do not want to know the wrath that follows. This is something I did not know about myself until someone pointed it out to me after a discussion on if my father would come and find me like Liam Neeson did for his on-screen daughter in Taken. Sure as shoot he would and no one better try to dispute that claim!
My dad has a stillness that does not run very much through many of his children, but I would like to think that I have received many of my qualities from him. His determination at never giving up on those he loves is amazing. He has had every reason to give up on some of them and yet he stands, solid, against all that the world may throw at him. In a world where it seems like people are so quick to give in when the going gets tough, he shows me what it really means to hang on through it all - even if your heart is bleeding - and the reasons why, sometimes, it is so important. He is a shield. A barrier, barring out the world and trying to keep it from attacking, too strongly, those he loves. He is a man of few words, surrounded by people who love to talk. Yet when he has something to say, it is as if the world stills for a second, just to lean in and listen. He is strong and noble, the very essence of what a man should aspire to be. I am so amazingly blessed by the example that he set for me and the fact the because of him, I know that my children will be able to be led be the same solid assurance in their own father.
This man- the thoughtful one, the loving one, the funny one, the strong one- is a man who carries many titles on his back (good thing he is fit for an "old guy"). He is the provider. A lawyer who will probably never know the definition of the word retirement. It just really is not a part of who is. Yet, he is also a surfer.
A kick-your-shoes-off, sand-in-your-toes, paddles-the-lake-everyday (if he can't be on the ocean) dedicated boarder. He is a son, a husband, a friend. He is the best grandpa "Surf Daddy" that any fairy princess grand kid could ever ask for.
But the title that I love most, the one that he will be until I take my last breath, is my daddy. I love him to the end of the world and back again and am blessed beyond measure to call him mine.
*Even if he did give me my red eyes and fair skin, I still wouldn't trade it for the world!
