Father's Day 2023

"It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was."

~Anne Sexton~

Father's Day is bittersweet for my little family.

Chris was born on Father's Day in 1967 and so we have many happy memories of celebrating Dad at the Fire Station for both Father's Day and his birthday.

Now, Father's Day celebrations include trips to the cemetery.  

I try to make Father's Day as painless as possible, but there will always be pain.  

We honor Dad by stopping by the cemetery, eating his favorite foods, and taking in a movie. This year it was, "Spiderman Across the Spider Verse" and Minsky's Pizza for their Z-Man BBQ pizza.  It was delish!

Dad's are most ordinary men turned by love into heroes, adventurers, storytellers, and singers of song."

~Unknown~

This year, the kids also have an amazing "father-figure" in their lives, but this also means tricky emotions for my children to navigate.  

Pat is quick to remind my kids that he is not their father...that they have an earthly father who happens to be residing in heaven...and that he just wants to be a part of their lives as a friend. Widowhood is nothing if not complicated!  

Saturday the 17th was the perfect summer date night.  I gave Pat a tee shirt that the kids and I bought for him honoring his Italian-American heritage and career dedicated to Public Safety.  (Yes, I am dating another fire fighter!  LOL)

Pat also knows widowhood.  He lost his wife 12 years ago to cancer.  They were unable to have children...so "parenting" is as tricky for him as it is for my kids.  We are all learning as we go and giving lots of grace to one another. I couldn't ask for a sweeter, kinder, gentler man to walk with me on this journey.  

God hears our cries and fulfills our every need. 

St. Joseph, patron saint of fathers, stepfathers, and foster fathers...pray for us.  

It's the courage to raise a child that makes you a father."

~Barack Obama~