It all started with a promise to love, honor and cherish each other and then becoming a parent came next, although there was quite a gap of time in between (Perhaps God was waiting for us to be mature enough to handle parenthood)!




Today is a big day in our household. It's Father's day and 13 years ago we had our first bundle of joy on Father's Day. I wonder where the time has gone. It has just seemed to fly by. Fifteen months later our second bundle of joy in the form of our second daughter came along.



Now having been married for 15 years before we had our first daughter, some of my friends were concerned that DH would not like being out of the spotlight. They could not have been more wrong. DH is the ultimate Dad. From the very first DH was wrapped around the girls fingers and that is still true today. I'm the disciplinarian in the house when it comes to making the girls tow the line and be responsible for their actions. DH is the one that they go to when they want a puppy, kitten or that pair of shoes they know I'll say no to because the heel is just too high.


DH is the one to take the girls out for a father daughter day to the movies and lunch afterwards. DH is the one that calls them at 8 o'clock every night (he works the night shift so I can work at home and be with the girls) to ask them about their day and to say goodnight. He's the one who makes me feel better when business is slow and I feel I'm not making a big enough financial contribution. He always tells me he wouldn't have it any other way (I retired from the phone company when our second daughter was born).

Dad is the one who is the "fun" parent while most of the time I'm the disciplinarian. Don't get me wrong, Dad is right there when things are going rough and supports me when I lay down the law, but if the girls want to enjoy something really silly Dad is their go to guy (as evidenced by DH doing his he-man I'm not cold shoveling the snow in my bathing suit pose below!)




DH is the one that I leaned on completely when within a two year span my parents both died. He provided never wavering support when things got really tough and has stood by me through thick and thin. I don't think that there is a husband or father who has been anymore solid than my DH and the girls father.

My girls are Daddy's girls. They share their hopes and dreams with him and he tells them the sky is the limit. They can do anything they want if they work hard.

The highest compliment I can pay DH is that he is just like my Dad who was always there for me through every trial and tribulation one faces in life. Dad has been gone 9 years now but all I have to do is turn around and look at DH to see the continuing legacy of what a great father is.



So Happy Father's Day to all Dads everywhere. I wish an especially happy Fathers Day to DH. This year our girls are both in middle school, our oldest in 8th grade and our youngest in 6th grade. Time flies so fast and high school is on the horizon. To our girls, this is only the beginning of your journey. May it be filled with love and friendship. It will always be filled with our love and support.

No pictures. No promoting today. Just some memories I have of Easters past. To say my parents had a huge impact on the person I am today is the understatement of the year.

Take Easter for example. I remember with fond memories going out with my Mom to get an Easter hat, spring coat, new dress, gloves, tights and new shoes. More often than not we would wind up at Bradlees. We'd find said coat, hat, gloves, tights, shoes and dress which of course all matched. Then Mom would take me to the Bradlees lunch counter and we'd have lunch together.

I remember one time in particular when we had tuna salad on toasted bread. My mom commented that the bread should have been toasted darker to make the sandwich more appealing. Years later I told my mom of this memory and she looked at me and said, "Did I really say that?" And I said "Yes you did and when I make toasted tuna salad sandwiches at home the bread is toasted dark just like it should be." She smiled.

I also remember going to the Cold Spring Cemetery on Palm Sunday to put crosses made of the palms we received at Our Lady of Loretto Church on the graves of our departed family members. One particular Palm Sunday there was snow on the ground. My mom ever the stylish lady living on a budget stepped forward to put the palm cross on a family member's grave. She left something more behind than that palm cross. Her stilettos left their turquoise dye behind. I wonder if any of our other family members saw those shoe prints that day?

Now of course my Dad has also created memories for me as well. Being raised Catholic we did not eat meat on Fridays. I asked one Friday night why that was and my father said, "We eat fish on Fridays because Jesus wanted to make sure his disciples could make a living selling their fish." Of course this was my Dad, the wisest man I knew speaking. So when I went to my catechism class the following Wednesday when Sister Anne Charles asked why we don't eat meat on Fridays I could not wait to share my new found wisdom. To say Sister Anne Charles did not have a sense of humor would be another understatement.

My Dad also used to tell us stories about when he was learning how to be an altar boy. Dad was an altar boy at Our Lady of Pompeii Church and went to school at Our Lady of Pompeii School. He told us that he was serving at his first mass alone one Sunday and when it was time to ring the bells he was on the wrong side of the altar. After that mass the pastor told him the easiest way to make sure you're on the correct side of the altar.

Now you could say what does all this have to do with what you are today? What these few instances taught me along with so many others that I've not mentioned are:

A. There's a right way to do things (toasting the bread dark enough to make it look appetizing).
B. You don't need a lot of money to be stylish (dyeing your shoes).
C. Remembering those who have gone before you is really important (putting palm crosses on the graves of our departed family members).
D. Having a sense of humor helps make some of the dictates of religion a bit more bearable (the disciples selling their fish on Fridays).
E. You learn and remember much more from your mistakes than you do from your triumphs (altar boy on the wrong side of the altar).

I hope that I'm passing along similar experiences for my girls to remember long after I'm gone. I'd rather they remember me for things like that than anything else.

I love you Mom and Dad. The memories make it just bearable now that you are not here. But I won't forget the things you've taught me and I hope I do you proud.