A Turtle's Day

This turtle truly enjoyed Father's Day!

I spent this whole weekend surrounded by my children and made the choice to be present to them and spend time with them. As an introvert, this choice is not always easy or natural. But what a reward it can bring!!!

On Saturday, my 9-yr old daughter Gretchen asked me to go for a walk with her. I had just come back from a 6 1/2 mile run, but who can turn down a father-daughter outing?

We walked down the road towards a local college campus which is on the far side of Lake Valentine. I spent almost a full hour walking and talking with my daughter. We didn't talk about much, but the time spent was wonderful! She has a great smile and I feel really and truly blessed that she wants to spend time with me!

This theme continued on Father's Day. I had breakfast with the children in the morning. Emma (the "Chatty Chatty Princess") gave me a paper weight which she had crafted at preschool. It had a picture of her in the center which was encircled by small green pieces of glass. She purposefully chose green because she knows that is my favorite color ("Because you like turtles, Daddy!").

Gretchen gave me a photo collage with pictures of Paul, Gretchen, Emma, and me. And Paul gave me a card announcing that his gift is still coming.

Then we all took a walk together to a local creek where we played a rousing game of "Pooh Sticks" (the game from Winnie-the-Pooh where you drop sticks into a river on one side of a bridge and then rush to the other side of the bridge to see whose stick is fastest).

We followed our walk with a game of War (the only card game the Chatty Chatty Princess can grasp) which was won by the Chatty Chatty Princess.

Later in the afternoon we joined my extended family for a Father's Day picnic. The weather was good, the food was great, and we had a lot of fun.

At the end of the day I found that I am truly blessed as a father. I continue to make many bad choices from week to week, especially as regards engaging in addictive behavior. But the bad choices are balanced with good ones, such as choosing to give myself to my children over the weekend.

What I find myself thinking about today is how grateful I am to be a father. Even more, I am grateful that my children still WANT to spend time with me. That is a true blessing!!!

Thank you, Paul, Gretchen, and Emma! Thank you for a wonderful Father's Day!!!