Father's Day

It is interesting, these holidays where you don't exactly participate due to, well, no longer having a needed piece of the equation.  Daddy has been gone thirteen years, and still, Father's Day seems strange to me.
So, though he isn't my Dad, he fathered my children and I celebrate the Handy Man today.  It was just going to be a sting proof bee jacket and some new books, but it turned into a bit more owing to circumstances of the week.
What is it about guys and trucks.  I don't get it. His truck was fourteen plus and starting to  show some serious signs of aging.  Being rear ended, forcing him into my car, didn't help at all.

That,um, is it called a tailgate? It's hanging on by a prayer.

Being blessed to have never been in an accident before, he was a bit frustrated. He'd been considering a truck for a long time anyway.  I thought it might help, since we were already at the dealership, to have a look around, and this truck found him.

 In case you can't see that big smile, here's a closer look-

That big grin warms my heart and I am so happy for him.

 We had our first date in the new truck last night and my first ride to the DQ for a dip cone.
    "Alright Chickapea, I've smiled enough, get in the truck."

 Parenting has changed so dramatically through the generations. Remember back in the day when being a good father meant keeping your kid fed and shoes on their feet?  Not much affection or emotion.  I never really felt, as a child, that my father liked me much. He always worked nights and a second job, so I didn't spend much time with him.  He was permanently disabled by a stroke when I was eleven and he really wasn't too crazy about me through my teens either.  He did, however like the Handy Man and my chicklets and I ended up being one of his most favorite places to be in his last years.  Sadly, Handy Man never had that emotional connection to his father and sadder still, that never really changed.
I guess we learned a lot about parenting from what we didn't have.  Every time I see him building something for the gramerlings, or down on one knee, teaching them something new, or loving to squeeze them, or running whenever one of his kid's calls, I'm grateful that we've come so far.  And I tell our children that I expect they'll take that loving and liking even farther with their own children and grandchildren.
I was blessed to have loving brothers and a brother-in-law who helped parent me along the way.  I'm so very thankful for having the love of my Heavenly Father modeled for me in a such a way.
The greatest blessing though for me was the love of this Handy Man.  It is no small thing for someone to look over all you ain't, which is not a tiny job in my case, and focus on all you are.  Such love.
I always encourage folks to remember to "like" the people they surround themselves with. It seems to me that loving isn't enough.  If you aren't liked, then you don't feel that love, no matter how fed or shoed you are.
Happy Father's Day guys and blessings on those who fathered having no biological children and those who daily father in the absence of one!