#11 A father and a Soldier

Today, I am most grateful for this man here:

Meet my Dad.

And yes, he does look really young for having a daughter who is 30. That is because, he is only 42. Doing the math in your head doesn't really work. There really is twelve years between us.

Explanation: I am "adopted".

Many, many years ago, my own biological parents divorced. My father left us and I was raised by my mother. My mother had this incredibly beautiful friend, Granny M that I have known since I was twelve. She and her husband Papa M, took my mother into their hearts and welcomed her with open arms. In many ways, my mother became one of their own. Granny M passed away a few years ago but Papa is still with us.

A couple of years after meeting Granny and Papa, I met Dad. He had just left the military and moved back Oregon with Mom and Lil Brudder. I can't remember the first time I met him or Mom for that matter. It was as if one day they weren't there and the next they were. Everything about our relationships with one another felt very natural, as if we were simply picking up where we had left off. As the years went on, I would not have survived my teenage years without him or Mom.

They took me into their hearts and home, just as his parents did for my mother. I remember when I graduated from high school, as I walked off the stage I heard someone yelling at me. I turned to look and see Mom, Dad and Lil Brudder all cheering me on. When I moved to Utah, he and Mom threw me a last minute going away party (on Fathers day, a sunday and they put it all on the credit card! If that is not love, I don't know what to tell you). When I brought Hotstuff home to meet everyone, the day after he had met Hotstuff for the first time, we went over for dinner. He and mom hadn't returned from the store yet but the moment he walked in the door he told me we needed to talk.

I won't lie, I was nervous. I thought I was in big trouble! But we sat down, just the two of us and had a father-daughter talk that I will never forget. That is a cherished memory of mine and I know, that talk is what I needed to put me on the right path of marrying my Hotstuff. He put his arms around me and told me that I was the daughter he would never have. For that one simple statement has brought completion to my life.

Today is Veterans day and I honor those who have fought for this incredible nation. My dad is one of them.  I hope that he knows how much he means to me. It has taken me a very long time to no longer feel like an orphan. When I talk of home, they are apart of the home.

My kids call him Poppy but to me he is my Dad.