Wednesday, August 3, 2011

A Gift from My Dad...


Life has been intensely busy the past couple of days and my blog posting has taken the hit.  I try to prepare my blog post the night before at home (after the myriad of chores) and them attempt to post them the next day on a break.  I speak about it today, because I wanted so badly to post yesterday about the wonderful call ' the gift' I received from my dad on Monday evening and there just didn't seem to be the time in the day to give it the justice it deserved.

Yes, such an awesome call from dad on Monday night.  One that I was certainly looking forward to along our journey of getting to really know one another and our respective families.  As I have blogged over the past several months and as with any family, I have mentioned that there are some differences between what we believe about 'choices' in our lives and my  view as to whether 'choices' is even the right phrase to use. Regardless. I do not mention it because I view this as a problem, or that I am critical of these differences of opinion from either of us, in fact, I believe that these kinds of differences are what makes the world a stronger place.  I respect that my dad and I and our respective faiths may come from different view points in some areas and of course we both come from a different time and place too.  They are all relevant, no matter how you look at them.

What made this call a 'gift' for me was how he began the call.  He made a point to want to know how my 'special' family was doing.  That was a first since we have been reunited and it meant a great deal to me that he opened the door for me to share how Steve, the kids and I are all doing.  All very important as we prepared to travel to Bufallo to meet everyone very soon, as I want them to know who Steve is too. It felt good to feel that freedom and to not limit the content of our call.

This made me realize even more that my dad is not only a pretty great guy, but despite our differences, including our respective opinions on certain things, our faiths and our beliefs that we are really making great progress about our willingness to set aside these differences, so that we can know more about each other and our respective families.  Without any doubt, this made me realize that dad is still trying to understand all he can about me because of his love for me.  I completely respect that he may not agree with some things or approve of others, but because he is still trying to learn all there is to know about my life, my partnership with Steve and how I became the man that I am, I view this as a incredible progress as we work through these differences to make the families whole.

I share how I ended in a letter in response to my dad's letter, where I wanted him to know how I give thanks for this incredible gift we have been given. 

... Because of my own faith, I truly believe that God did not bring us all on this path together today for any other reason than these are his collective answers to all of our unanswered prayers, his love and understanding for us and that we were ready for this gift now. We will never know for sure until we meet him, but I embrace it with open arms.

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