Daddos

"Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes." ~Gloria Naylor

Sometimes, there just aren't words.
 
And today is one of those days.
 
If you know me, you know I have a biological father. 
I don't know his name, and know very little about him. 
 
Non-identifying information, they call it.
 
Which means for me, I couldn't identify him in a crowd even if I wanted to.  Lucky for me, God chose a man for me in my life to be a daddo that I don't ever care to even look for the man that shares my genetics. 
 
Because it's not what makes a dad. 
 
A dad is the man that holds his baby girl on his chest while they both sleep...
 
He goes to every single possible ballet and tap recital on the planet, and gives his girl flowers afterwards to make her feel like the most important gal on the planet....
 
He tells her he loves her, no matter what, and apologizes in times of wrong.
 
He teaches his son the importance of work, and stands by him through rough patches and beautiful, redeeming moments....
 
He dances, laughs, sings, and acts silly with his kids.
 
He teaches you sayings like, "money doesn't buy happiness, but it sure as hell greases the wheels," and "ask for what you want, when you want it, because the worst they can say is no."
 
He teaches you not to ever sell yourself short.
 
He rejoiced when my first child entered this world, and weeped when my second child left this world....
 
Yup, there may be another man on this planet that some would say is my father, but none other than MCG himself who is my DADDO.
 
My daddo.
My first love.
Thomas' DOC---and he sure does love that Doc.
 
But I think the feeling is mutual :-)
 
And now, God has blessed me with a husband who has simply grown up before my eyes. 
 
When we met he was a mere twenty-something kid.
 
And now...and NOW...
 
He's a DAD. 
 
There's a window of time that occurs between Mother's Day and Father's Day.  It's about a six week window.
 
In that six week window of time, we experienced the birth and death of our daugther, with Mother's and Father's Day bookending the experience on each side.
 
On each of our recognized days, each of us celebrated and will celebrate, Mother's and Father's Day with only one child on this earth...
 
Seems a bittersweet, cruel thing, a reminder of her very brief time on earth...
 
But today, my husband will get a photo album of his life as a father in the past year, since last Father's Day, and you better believe the last pages of that book make sure he doesn't forget that he's a father to TWO beautiful children.
 
And so today, we will celebrate everything he has done for his children, especially in the past two months: 
He cooked.
He cleaned.
He bathed his son.
He put his son to bed.
 
He made his son feel safe when that little boy's world got rocked, and he wondered where his momma was
 
He held watch over wires and alarms, and held his daughter's hand.
 
And he wept.
 
Then when it was all over, I was pointing out how awful my stomach looked, and he looked at me, his wife, and told me I was beautiful.
 
Yes, you see, words don't do these two men justice.
 
My cup runneth over.
 
Happy Daddo's Day, daddo.
Happy Father's Day, sweet husband.