Happy Fathers' Day!!!

Around 10:00 am I got a call that sort of nudged me into consciousness, but didn't fully drag me out of my dream.

Around 2:00 pm (MUCH closer to my regular wake-up time) I got a call that dragged me back into this world enough for me to get up and check the number.

It was TISHA!!! That woke me up!

I listened to the message she left then called her right back. I got her voicemail, so I left a message, and just as I was wrapping up I heard my other line beep, so I swicthed over and it was her, calling me back!

She wished me a Happy Father's Day! :)

Which is REALLY COOL for a couple of reasons:

First, her DAD is my ex-father-in-law. What I mean by that is that he's there EVERY DAY, raising her and taking care of her and laughing with her and arguing with her and teaching her. This is a function he has served as far back as she can remember. (I only raised her had her for the first couple of years.) So I'm the "biological father". And functionally, I'm kind of like that wierd uncle that she sees a few times a year and swaps IMs and text messages and emails with.

So it really touched me when she called me to with me Happy Father's Day!!! That's not a title I feel I've earned, but one she very generously has granted me. You know? (It's the old "E" for Effort grade, if you're old enough to remember that. I'm not, just old enough to have heard that it once existed.)

The other reason her phone call was a great way to start off this Fathers' Day is because this is my second Father's Day without my pops. I mean, I don't believe for a second that I am WITHOUT him, he's here. I feel him sometimes :) But this is the second one since he passed away. And I've been wrestling with what to do to remember him today, or if I should really DO anything besides just spending some private time with him, talking to him.

It's kind of a wierd thing, you know? How the living interract with the dead. I'm not a cerimonious person. I'm super low-key when it comes to expressiong my emotions in that I like to keep it between me and the other person involved. At Dad's memorial service I had ZERO desire to stand up infront of everyone and tell them how I felt about dad. That's between me and my pops.

So to start off my day with a phone call from my daughter wishing me a Happy Father's Day turn a potentially downer day into a VERY positive, celebratory one! :) Tisha set the tone for my day (and I wouldn't be surprised if my Dad had somethign to do with that ;) )!