My dad,

on most days, drive me nuts. He is an interesting kind of man in a not really great way. seriously. How my mom put up with him I don't know. I have never figured out their relationship. He's a simple kind of guy. Wouldn't hurt any one ever. He loved my mom to pieces. His own father was an immigrant who did all kinds of work to feed his family. My grandpa loved his sons. And he loved his grandchildren. We knew this. He would kiss my father every time we visited - which was always weekly. He would kiss his grandsons. This was a love and a form of affection passed down from father to sons. Both my brothers will hug and kiss my dad too.

But my dad... sigh... never learned how to do things. My grandma wouldn't let him. She was afraid he'd hurt himself or worse! So he could mow lawns, do dishes. But wield a hammer? Build or put together anything? Not so much. It would frustrate my mom to no end. All that practical kind of stuff. They would write cheques. ( I guess I come by that honestly!)

However, my dad always allowed us our dreams. "You can do anything you want as long as you do the work." We three - my two sibs and I believed him. And we've done it. We achieved what we have wanted in our lives. And his grandchildren love him to pieces too. Even if they wonder why talks so slowly, why he refuses to get a computer so they can IM with him, why he can't figure out what to do with his cell phone. But they know that grandpa cares about them, and wants what's best for them.

As for the father of my girls. sigh... Maybe he tries, but I am not sure he knows how. His own father oy! Takes me back to one of my most earliest posts on this blog. I firmly believe now if you want to know the true measure of a man observe carefully or ask about his relationship with his father - not just his mother. It seems a man's self worth can be tied to his father's belief in him. If he doesn't have that - he is missing something that allows for a complete life. And unless he figures it out and deals with it, it will affect all his relationships - and not in a positive way. And that's what I have learned.

To my own dad. As frustrating and as crazy as he makes me - he's my dad - he gave me confidence and pushed me where I needed to go. For that I thank him and love him. God grant him and all fathers many happy, blessed and healthy years.