Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day!!


Had to share with you my Father's Day Card.  This isn't the first time Kazi has given me a Father's Day card and I have to tell you it really warms my heart that she acknowledges the challenges of single parenting. 

My little baby is graduating from university on Tuesday! I'll post pictures of her in her $250 silk dress that I helped pay for. I gave her $150 towards the cost of the  dress - I decided to NOT give her the whole amount because if she's going to make such expensive choices then she needs to pick up part of the tab! 

It's rather ironic (or perhaps mystifying would be a better work, or stupefying) that she has developed such expensive tastes. For the first 10-12 years of her life all of her clothing came from second hand stores. Even as a teenager she would come with me to the second hand shops occasionally and make a purchase or two. But somewhere along the way (perhaps when I started buying her $100 jeans for her birthdays) she adopted the old adage of "PAY TWICE AS MUCH MONEY FOR HALF AS MUCH CLOTHING"!!

She now only shops at the best stores and buys only top quality items. Personally, I find that hard, no impossible, to do.  I was raised by parents who grew up during the great depression and learned to re-use, recycle, redevelop every item that they had.  Flour sacks were turned into quilts, empty juice cans held nails, nuts and bolts, scrap lumber turned into a chicken coop and so on. This generation is different - AND I do admire her "less is more" approach.  Instead of having 10 second hand dresses she has 1 or 2 really good ones.  Once I retire I want to practice that strategy...Anyhoo I digress....

I am very PROUD of my daughter. It couldn't have been easy having an absentee father. She has never complained about that, instead she acknowledges the fact that I've been both mother and father to her. I've been working on a MEMORY ALBUM for her as I have saved every scrap of paper she ever wrote or drew on, every art project, every report card, every award, every EVERYTHING she's produced or received over the past 21 years. I thought one album would be sufficient but I've filled the whole album and have only gotten as far as GRADE ONE!! YIKES!! So I purchased some insert pages so I can at least get to highschool by her convocation date!


These two photos were taken Friday night. Can you tell Kazi didn't want her picture taken?? The young man she is with is Michael's son, Dane. He kinda forced her to get her picture taken...she can be a bit of a grumpus from time to time lol! She reminds me of my mother who never wanted her picture taken unless every single thing was perfect: hair, makeup, clothing, lighting, angle etc etc!! My poor dear - she doesn't realize that she's absolutely breathtaking even first thing in the morning with NO makeup, NO hairdo, NO amazing outfit! 

Anyway, the step-siblings usually get along great and even though he works as a firefighter on the airbase in Trenton they stay in touch by texting and calling. He's a lovely young man and was raised in a single parent family too - Michael was the main custodial parent so both kids grew up as only children of single parents - and they have turned out just FINE!!  thank you very much! (That's a slam against all the studies that show kids from single parent homes grow up to be serial killers!)

I sure am rambling on and on today. What was my point?? Oh yes, Father's Day. Celebrate the men (or women!!)  in your life and appreciate their vast contributions to our lives. Even the negative experiences can be great teachers. 

What are you doing to celebrate Father's Day?

12 comments:

  1. What a cute card :) I need to find this one for my FIL for next year :) And your daughter IS beautiful, no reason at all to hide form the camera!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jane @The maple Syrup MobJune 18, 2012 at 5:00 AM

    Called my daddy in the UK. He has Alzheimers and heart failure. I was scared it would be the last Father's day we have.
    Jane
    PS your daughter is as beautiful as her Mommy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alzheimer's is hard. My mom died in 2000 with Parkinson's (the dementia was severe) and lost my dad to cancer in 2002. But even though they are gone I feel their presence in my life every single day - it's as though they walk along beside me. I find that very comforting. My mom wrote us kids a letter once when she and my dad headed off to Scotland for a vacation. It was one of those "only open if I don't return" kind of letters and she wanted us to think of her as being just in the next room, we can't see her but we know she's there.





    ________________________________
    From: Disqus
    To: j_harrison@rogers.com
    Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2012 1:54:38 PM
    Subject: [jamhair] Re: Life DOESN'T Begin at Retirement - LIFE Begins TODAY!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I know - she's a perfectionist and she came by it honestly (her gramma not me!!) LOL!





    ________________________________
    From: Disqus
    To: j_harrison@rogers.com
    Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2012 1:06:56 PM
    Subject: [jamhair] Re: Life DOESN'T Begin at Retirement - LIFE Begins TODAY!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I got a happy Father's Day greeting from DD this morning too!  I like to think that my girl was raised well too and beat the so called odds coming from a single parent family! We called my dad and wished him a happy Father's day.  I did send DD's dad a greeting on facebook...

    ReplyDelete
  6. Well that was very civil of you! I would have done that too if I knew where he was!! Oh well, I've done my best. Our daughters are the next generation of strong, capable young women who will RULE THE WORLD!!





    ________________________________
    From: Disqus
    To: j_harrison@rogers.com
    Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2012 3:45:41 PM
    Subject: [jamhair] Re: Life DOESN'T Begin at Retirement - LIFE Begins TODAY!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. You are an impressive dad and your hubs is an impressive mom! And holy hell those are some stunning looking kids!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I guess it's all the hair growing on my upper lip! Or the fact that I can fix a toilet. Brings out the MAN in me!





    ________________________________
    From: Disqus
    To: j_harrison@rogers.com
    Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2012 7:55:43 PM
    Subject: [jamhair] Re: Life DOESN'T Begin at Retirement - LIFE Begins TODAY!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Of course she looks good from every angle just look at the genes she inherited ....

    ReplyDelete
  10. She's very photogenic!






    ________________________________
    From: Disqus
    To: j_harrison@rogers.com
    Sent: Sunday, June 17, 2012 10:55:13 PM
    Subject: [jamhair] Re: Life DOESN'T Begin at Retirement - LIFE Begins TODAY!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Happy Belated Father's Day! (and to Michael too)  

    ReplyDelete
  12. Happy belated Father's Day to the both of you!! 

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for your comment - it means a lot to me that you read my post and are leaving a comment - you just made my day!