Father's

So last Sunday we celebrated Father's Day at the Choy house. Jon was served breakfast in bed and given one no obligation request. "To not to be a father" he said, and I completely understood. Jon loves his role as "Daeey" as Kyle says and "Dada" as Clayton has just discovered, but it is hard work and a little break was more than deserved.

As I meander, no we'll call it trudge, my way through parenthood I think my appreciation of the father role only grows. Yes, woman power is a mighty thing and single parenting can be done, and sometimes done better I might argue, but when a good man plays the role of dad, it is a beautiful thing.

In my life I have seen nothing but good fathers. My Paw Paw was a good dad. My brother is a good dad and my own father was a good dad. A much better dad now that he is gone, I might add. What I mean by that is that in his short life I never saw an ability in him to measure up to that standard I had of what a good dad should be. A good dad, I thought, should cuddle and snuggle with his little girl, tell her of her beauty and the princess she is to become. He is to hold the forces of the world at bay so as not to dirty her beautiful gown. He is strong. He is tender and he is there. He is not to wander off into his own world leaving hers behind but to enter in as uncomfortable as it may be.

My dad, well, he fell short in many of the more tender arenas in life (until his later years in which he was no less tender than a teddy bear). Things that I know would have shaped me differently had they been there. But the things he excelled in were things he couldn't help. He was quiet, but had no lack of passion. He was committed. He didn't know how to turn his back. He was quirky to a fault but always with the best of intentions. He sang even though he didn't have a voice and danced when he knew others were laughing. He lived. He fought for good when others fought against him and though the glory was not his in this life, that was not what he lived for. When he thought it was never shallow, when he spoke it never really made sense. But what he lived was purpose and adventure in pursuing what he should. Not the world and all it holds but the One who holds it and makes it all spin the way it should. For as much time as I spent ashamed of him, now he is the one I wish I were more like.  I miss him very much!

So today when I look at Jon cutting up bananas to put on Clayton's plate or screaming about how gross his poopy diaper looks and smells, when he asks if I want him to come home from work so I can take Kyle to the movies while he works from home and watches Clayton, or when he asks if he can take Kyle to the pool in the 100+ heat so I can have a break, I ask myself, who is this man?

He is a Dad. A Father. Sacrificer of so many things. Is he too, full of shortcomings just like all of our father's before us? Absolutely (sorry to be so emphatic :o) But he is good. Good to his children and good to me. He is solid and stable and sure. And he is growing in spite of the inertia that would love to pull us all down in the phase of life we're in.

My children are very blessed and I am too!!