Thanks, Daddy

Spent some quality time with my dad on Sunday, as expected, it being Father's Day and all. When I was a little girl growing up, I just assumed every kid had a dad as great as mine. I can still remember the day I found out that one of my friends had a dad who abused her. I couldn't understand it. It didn't make any sense, and it took me a long time to adjust my world view to comprehend a dad who threatened instead of protected.

Now as an adult, of course, I understand that there are a lot of not-so-great dads out there, and I have come to realize just how blessed I am to have the dad I do. A dad who is a great father, and also a great friend. A dad who has taught me so much about the world, and about the kind of person I want to be ... a person even half as good as the person he is. A dad who has a great talent that he is lucky enough to share with the world (as an organist, pianist, choir director, performer, musical director, teacher, and, yes, rock star), and who has spent thirty years giving the gift of learning about and appreciating and making music to the next generation. I can't even imagine my life without the joy of music in it, and that all comes from my dad. It's one of the greatest, and just one of many, gifts he has given me.

I was blessed to have two other father figures, to have two very present and loving grandfathers who have had a huge impact on my life as well. I know so many people for whom visits to their grandparents are annual chores, and again it is only as an adult that I have truly come to realize how blessed I was to see my grandparents nearly every day, and to have them as friends and companions. My Grandad is gone now, and I miss him every day, but I give thanks for the nearly 30 years I had with him and I know that he's not gone so very far away. And my Grandpa is still as vibrant and sharp and amazing at 94 as he was when I was a child ... I swear if I'm in half as good shape when I'm in my 90s I'll be doing well!

The lessons these three men taught me are what has prepared me for life, and I have big shoes to fill as I try to live up to their legacies. Sunday was a day to celebrate them, but I give thanks for them every day, and I try to live my life in a way that makes them proud every day. Thanks, Dad.