It’s Father’s Day, June 16,2013.
No, you’re not in our family right now. I’ve thought about this little project and I
realize it’s strange to blow the dust off of it after so long on today of all
days, so I guess I should explain.
By the time my dad was my age, he was a father. Now, I’m not a dad yet. Not planning on being one for a while. But I’ve seen the way my relationship with my
dad is differs from my siblings’ relationships with
him.
Your mom tells me time and time
again that I’m my "father’s son." I’m
never fully sure of what she means by that, but I take it as a compliment as
often as I can.
My point is, your uncle Dallin’s version of my dad is very different from mine. He’s being raised and fathered by a Judge Advocate General for the United States Air Force in his forties. I got to see my dad as a young kid trying to figure out how to provide for his new family – a situation that drives very close to home right now. Many of my younger siblings only know my dad, the Major; I knew my dad when he’d just graduated from his major.
My point is, your uncle Dallin’s version of my dad is very different from mine. He’s being raised and fathered by a Judge Advocate General for the United States Air Force in his forties. I got to see my dad as a young kid trying to figure out how to provide for his new family – a situation that drives very close to home right now. Many of my younger siblings only know my dad, the Major; I knew my dad when he’d just graduated from his major.
I don’t know if/when God will see fit to send you to us,
kiddo. So in the meantime, I’m going to
try to recollect as much as I can, so you too can know your father as a young man.
Love,
S
As you know, I was the youngest in my family, and I always loved it when we got out the slide projector and looked at all our old family pictures. I could see things as they were before me. I remember thinking how much I would have loved to know my father as a young man. That's one of the most moving things for me when I watch the movie Field of Dreams. Playing catch with that young man. Wow.
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