Father's Day

Happy Monday everyone!  It’s pretty hot here in the resort town of Cobourg.  We are awaiting a thunderstorm that will bring the temperature down a bit.  It should help my sad looking plants, too!

Yesterday was Father’s Day.  I got to spend some of it with my dad, as did many of my siblings, so it was a great visit. I managed to find an early picture of me and my dad, that I posted on Facebook.  I was really happy to see so many posts as tributes to other folks’ fathers and grandfathers.

For my kids, it’s kind of a day that they pretty much ignore, except to wish my dad (their grandfather) a great day.  If you have followed my blogs, you know that my kids stopped seeing their father when my oldest daughter was in her first year of high school. It was one of the most heartbreaking days I have ever had to experience with my girls.

They came home from dinner with their father and I watched from the window as they broke down into tears as soon as they sadly walked by the front of his car in the driveway.  Obviously, something was wrong.  Alysse came downstairs, where I was waiting for them, and picked up the cordless phone handset.  She paced and looked at the phone, paced and looked at the phone and paced and looked at the phone.  She was so torn and she finally called her father and told him that she couldn’t see him any more.

It broke her heart because she had pretty much dedicated her life to trying to please her father and no matter what she did, it always seemed to be wrong.  I remember her getting on the soccer team and playing in goal. She was so thrilled because her father really loved soccer.  His response was that they only put the worst player in goal.  The negativity was too much.  Despite the fact that she loved her father very much, she could no longer be around him.  This, of course, cut her off from the rest of his family.

I should point out that Kaitlyn, my youngest, never felt the same about her father.  She was only four months old when he left and so they never had the same relationship as Alysse and her father did.  As a matter of fact, it seems that the only reason that Kaitlyn had continued to see her father as long as Alysse did, was to protect Alysse.  Kaitlyn, wise well beyond her years, hated to see how their father broke Alysse’s heart and felt that she needed to be there to help Alysse through those rough times.  Kaitlyn was glad when it was all over.

So, I feel very blessed that I not only have a wonderful dad, but that he is a wonderful role model to my girls, so that they know that there are great fathers out there.  There are many wonderful dads out there and they all deserve to be celebrated!  There are even some really great uncles out there who are loving and caring with their nieces and nephews.  They too, should be celebrated!

God bless all the good and wonderful influencers in children’s lives!  All parents welcome such great caring people in their kids lives.

Have a great week!  God bless all!