Happy Father's Day!

I was blessed to be born into the family I was.  My parents did not just love and care for me, but they taught me and encouraged me and respected my thoughts and ideas.  Their unconditional love shaped me into the woman and ultimately the parent that i have become.
My father has always meant the world to me.  And i am once again blessed to have married a man that i knew would be the type of father i insisted my children would have.  And he is, and then some.


I am going to tell a short anecdote tonight about my father, in celebration of Father's Day. 


When I was 12, my dad took me to see the New Kids on the Block in Philadelphia.  It was a big night out for just us two!  I'm guessing he came home early from work to get us out the door and through the hellish traffic jam we'd have to tackle to get into the city.  He then endured two hours worth of thousands of screaming pre-teen girls adoring a band that i'm pretty sure was not on his top 10 list at the time.  i had the time of my life!  he smiled at me.  at the end of the show, we caught word that there was a chance that the band was staying at the four seasons.  i don't remember the exact progression of events here (as in, did i beg him with all of my little girl power, or did he insanely just offer), but we ended up driving downtown to the four seasons to then stand on the sidewalk with another hundred-ish screaming pre-teen girls staring up at a building, cameras poised.  i don't recall how long we stood there, but i do remember that we did not ever see anyone from the band.  we drove home with our ears ringing and my heart happy.  i'm sure i reenacted every scene of the night for him along that drive, probably blasting the cassette tape of all the songs we had just heard.  however the exact night went doesn't really matter.  what matters is that 22 years later, i can still remember how special that night was for me.  not because i got to see my favorite boy band of the era, and not because i stalked them outside of their hotel, but because my dad spent that time with me.  he spent an entire night for me and with me just because.  because he was a dad of a preteen girl.  a dad who loved me enough to forego his hearing and all musical tastes for a night to make his little girl smile.  and i will never forget that night.  and while i thought that i could never be more thankful than i was that night, i am.  i am continuously thankful for nights like that that i was so fortunate enough to have in my life!  i only hope that i can give my girls similar memories throughout their lives.