Father Figures

We are in the middle of our four-week-family-visit extravaganza! Grandma kicked things off a little over two weeks ago. She was joined last weekend by my cousin's family, my aunt, my mom (Nana), and my step-dad (Papa) for Thing #2's birthday. Then by monday, everyone was gone except for Nana and Papa, who stayed until this morning. Tomorrow, the Uncles come!

This, of course, got me thinking about how lucky I am to have such great family, even if the closest ones are 7 hours away! It also got me thinking more about my immediate family. Now, I am not very familiar with the whole Dad thing. My Dad was an amazing man. He seemed to be a great combination of goofy and serious, lovable and loving, friendly and protective. By all accounts, he was a wonderful father, a pretty terrific husband, a great brother, and a perfect son. But, I didn't know him. My Dad died when he (and I) was tragically young, and while it is great to be surrounded by his family who tell me some wicked awesome stories. For me, there has always been a huge empty space because of his absence.

Then along came The Stepdad. He is a pretty amazing man. I could list here all of the things that he has done for me, for my mom, and for my family but, not only would it be a pretty long list, it wouldn't really explain why he is so great. I think the best part about him is that despite my stubbornness (I had previous step-dad experiences) and my age when we met (I was an adult), he has embraced me as family and, even more recently, he has become an amazing grandfather to my kids. He is a quiet, goofy, and intelligent man, whom you better not cross, especially if you are NOT family. I feel so lucky because my family is loved and protected by this man. He will never be my Dad, nor does he try. In fact, he respects the place my Dad holds in this family, which makes him even more endearing.

But like my Dad, I just wish I had him around when I was growing up.