Growing up we are taught to honor our parents, today was a day spent honoring a man that is very special to me; he may not have set out to be my father but despite his intentions it turned out he would be. It was over 20 years ago that my dad passed away and while I struggled with the reality that life would be forever changed the father of my girlfriend would make a simple statement that I would forever hold dear to my heart. The day of my fathers funeral many people whispered words of encouragement to me and my family members, I know they were all sincere but it seemed like white noise to a teenager who's head was spinning with confusion, anger and remorse. It was during this time that my girlfriends father pulled me aside and told me that while he could never take the place of my father, he wanted me to know that he was there for me as a father. That simple statement stuck out as one of the few memories I have of that day, here was a man who I felt truly meant what he said and would follow through with his statement if I decided I wanted to open the door to him. It was during this time that I realized my fathers rule of asking permission from the parents of any girl we wanted to date prior to starting a relationship was not a silly rule, there were benefits to knowing the parents of your date approved and liked you. Little did this man know that I would some day call him Dad and love him as I loved my very own father.
Today we followed our family tradition of celebrating birthdays together on the Sunday following ones actual special day. We gathered at Rebecca's parents and enjoyed the birthday boy's meal of choice which happened to be oven roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, salad, garlic bread and homemade cranberry sauce. Rebecca and I contributed by providing the desserts, double chocolate cake with warm dark chocolate gnash, homemade vanilla bean ice cream and dark chocolate covered strawberries - all of Dad's favorites.
Days like today I reflect on the fact there are people who go through life without having a father that they can honor and of course there are people who are lucky to have a dad worthy of honor. I on the other hand feel truly blessed that in my life I have been given multiple men to call Dad, all of which have deserved to be honored by me and my family. Today I was proud to have the chance to honor Chuck Rathbun, a man many would refer to as my father-in-law, I prefer to just refer to him as my father.
What might have seemed as the right thing to say at that moment many years ago has helped me in more ways than can be counted and today I felt like I was the lucky one having the chance to celebrate the birthday of a man who may not have ever thought he could take the place of my deceased father but in fact he could and did.
Happy Birthday Dad, thanks for being such a huge part of my life and my families life as well. Thank you for the advise you have dispensed over the years, the hours spent working on projects around the house, the encouragement during the hard times and most of all for being a role model that I can strive to be like day after day.
