Today is the first time that I have gone to the store and picked out a Fathers day card to send to my dad.This year has been full of many firsts. Refresher: My mom skipped town when she was pregnant with me. I did not locate/ meet my dad until I was 31. Then disappeared for several years.I connected with my dad again sometime late last summer. I still only kind of understand why there was a long pause between our first meeting and where we are today. I am also afraid he will disappear again. The rejection was painful the first time and many close friends advised against taking that kind of risk again. I ultimately decided to dig deep into my strength and give it another shot.
My dad first drove from Louisiana to Indiana for Thanksgiving and met my husband and 3 of my kids for the first time. We cooked together, played board games, watched my daughter perform with the orchestra. Hung out and stayed up very late every night catching up and talking. We talked about everything, nothing was off limits.
I took him on a tour of the university I graduated from and beamed with pride the whole time. At first, I thought it would it would be awkward and we would have trouble connecting but it wasn’t that way at all. Having him around was totally comfortable and natural.
Then I got the best Christmas gift ever! Christmas morning with my dad!
He called and sang happy birthday on my birthday.
As I have shared my story and accepted media interviews my dad has supported me.
When I decided to work more on my own business interests he asked how can help?
Then in May while working on a TV show the producers asked me to ask my dad directly if he would have stopped my forced child marriage, his response ” heck ya”. Those two incredibly validating words that I didn’t even know I needed to hear. I have helped him with technology, we share recipes and cooking ideas, and my kids have an interested grandparent.We live far apart so I don’t get to see each other as often as we would like, but ultimately its really nice to have him be just a text away.
Happy Fathers Day Dad and I swear I will get that card in the mail tomorrow!
