Tuesday, December 15, 2009

There is No "Step" in F-A-T-H-E-R

I've been reaching into my past lately and digging up some old memories, mostly sweet ones. Just last month I spent a few days relishing my dad's funny antics. I enjoy "remembering"; what a pity it would be to forget. However, some of my trips into yesteryear are tinged with grief and a tad bit of bitterness. For instance, my late teen years were really the pits! Dad was gone, my older sisters were gone, my little sister hated me and Mom had the audacity to remarry and move to Texas!

By simply marrying my mother, Bob became Public Enemy #1. I cried more at their wedding than I did at my father's funeral. I was secretly determined to make the man so miserable that he would be forced to run for his life....I didn't know who I was up against. There isn't a whole lot of drama and gun smoke around Bob. He is who is. My refusal to clean my room, even for the real estate agent, didn't seem to ruffle his feathers. When I declared my independence to stay in Virginia versus moving to Texas, he didn't put up a fight. Before I knew it, I was all grown up and my parents were thousands of miles away.

Over the years, this blended family has lost that uncomfortable, awkward feeling. Weddings, babies and funerals have sewn us tightly together. I'm a little fuzzy on when Bob became more than just my mother's husband. Could it have been when he was baking hams, while dressed in a tuxedo, mere hours before our wedding reception? Was it when he drove through the night (on more than one occasion) so that Mom could be here when the baby was born? Was it because he took such tender care of my beloved grandfather? Because he loves my mama? Because he's a fabulous grandfather?

Maybe, it was when my arms got too tired of pushing him away and I finally let him embrace me with his love. My sisters came around a long time ago.....I've always been a slow learner.

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