The Best Gift for Fathers Day

This first picture is from 10 years ago.

I'm at the point of life, where if I were to die now, I'd have a smile on my face.

Sort of a morbid thought, and I plan on living for another 25 years or so, God willing.

I recall thinking as a young Dad 20 years ago that all I wanted from my kids was that they would grow up to be self sufficient.

I wanted them to be able to make good choices regarding the way they spent their lives. That includes money, time, relationships and their spiritual side.

And everyone of them has had rough patches, but I glad for those times too. They are stronger because of those struggles.

15 years ago, I went through a divorce and had no idea what would come next. My parents stayed together for a lifetime as did many of their peers.

A few years later I remarried as did my first wife, and despite the occasional struggles that occur when divorced couples raise their kids, we've done pretty good compared to the horror stories I've heard.

And I have to give credit to our spouses, and on my side my wife's ex-husband. We all get along because we have decided to pick our battles.

There's also the step-parenting issues. I'm grateful to my wife for being a great step-mom and my ex-wife's husband for being a great step-dad.

Overall, I would say that my kids and step-kids have not lost any parents through the divorces and remarriages, they actually gained more adults who love them, care about them and look out for them.

Saturday night was a family reunion of sorts. My oldest daughter Rachael who lives in Fort Wayne, and her fiance Brandon; my son Josh and his fiance Madeline who live mostly in Richmond, Indiana; my other daughter Tiffany who lives in Indianapolis wanted to gather for dessert at Henrys in downtown Fort Wayne around 7:30.

So Kathy and I got there early, had a couple salads along with shrimp, scallops and sushi from their ala carte seafood bar and around 7:30 the rest arrived. We stayed for nearly 3 hours!

At one point I commented to Tiffany how happy I was see everything going on at the table and the lives represented.

Afterward I mentioned to Kathy that times like we had Saturday night will come to an end in a couple of years due to babies being born and we won't be able to have family gatherings at 21 and older establishments!

That will usher in a new era with lots of little ones and the brood gets even bigger! I've had a bit of grandparenting practice as my stepson Ian has an 11 year old, a 2 year old and a third one on the way.

By the way, I refer to Ian and his sister Abby as step-kids out of respect for their Dad. Ian was living on his own before Kathy and I married and Abby has been under our roof since she was 12. Abby is currently between her junior and senior year of college and left Friday to go to Chicago for the weekend, but left a message on our chalkboard-door when I got home Friday night.



And in a few hours Rachael and I will get together for lunch at ribfest. In the meantime, here's a picture from last night as we went for a walk after dinner at Henrys.