It's the Dad thing

Something about Dad's.
Gotta love 'em.
They can make you crazy, but still, ya gotta love 'em.
Dad, Daddy, Father, Pop, Papa, Pops, Pappy even (?), Pa, Da, Abbat, Padre, Pere,....
It's all Dad.

And there are two dads that mean the world to me, my Dad, of course, and my Tom, dad to my kiddles.
And they are the best.

First, my dad, aka Pops - on those cheery days.
I love my dad.

As dad's are supposed to be, he was larger than life to me as a little girl.
And I suppose in many ways, he still is, because he's still the dad...it's a lifetime, ya know?
He's part of many of my favorite things:
Riding horses, yakking about everything and nothing.
Sipping hot strong coffee, yakking about everything and nothing.
Reading the paper in the morning, commenting on the news and everything and nothing.
Comparing wines, and yakking about everything and nothing....
You get the idea....
I love him for his loyalty and his steadfast grit, no matter the tide,or his opinion on my choices and my opinions.

He's my dad, forever and always and I love him.


ANd then we have the other big dad in my life, the "pardner dad," {I can say "pardner", because we both grew up out west. It's in our blood.} my Tom.

He's such a great dad; such a great partner in raising this tribe.
He pulls up the slack when I am a slacker.
He pulls me up out of the indigo when I fall into the blues.
He can make me and/or the kids pound the table in laughter, so funny.
He is steadfast and sure, a rock to my rollercoaster of passion and mood, good or bad.
He loves his kids to distraction.
He is easily distracted by fun new adventures and toys, to their delight and my sometime consternation.
He is a born teacher, to my delight and to their sometime consternation.
His love and gift for music has carried into his children, all of them, in one way or another...enriching all of our lives.
He works far too hard and carries too many burdens; and without complaint, though he sometimes does daydream about moving to islands....
He is an adventurer, but stays close to home and it's needs regardless, tamping down that wanderlust and craving for new thrills.
He is strong inside and out, steady and sure, kinder than me and a softie on the inside.His girls totally pegged that, right away.
His boys don't always believe it.
But he is.
He's the dad.
He will go to the ends of the earth for his children, and has.
He's the dad, and we all love him so, and are so grateful for him.
I love this man, the dad of this clan.

So, I want to wish them both, and every single other dad out there, a very Happy Father's Day!

You all deserve some kudos for a very tough, long, hard wonderful job.  

And a big thank you.

Happy Father's Day!