Father's Day hmmmmm

Father's Day is even more complex for me than Mother's Day, in some ways.

I have one Mom, that's pretty easy. Although, come to think of it, technically I have had two stepmothers. We'll stick with the one Mom.

Two mothers-in-law. Well, no, three, as I inherited a gem of one six years ago, who took in my now-husband as her own when he married her daughter in 1984.

I have only had one Dad, and he has been gone 15 years this summer. Fifteen. Hard to believe. The empty space is a force field that keeps me from thinking too hard about it.

What he wanted to be his whole life was this landowner and community pillar he was gifted with in his final few years. What he was, most of his life, was a center of every place he worked as a teacher, principal, CFO of a school district, and superintendent. Along with being a botanist, historian, and general student of life.

I have had only one father of my children, who has been gone ten years this year. Ditto. He lived what he was gifted to be before he lost his way, one who became integral to his own communities in pointing us to the pain and joy of life.

Yes, I am beyond grateful for both of them, as I am grateful for the man who is "Grandpa" and "Papa" to my "Grandma" and "Patricia."

And I would wish them here.