Family Day Should Be Everyday

Tammi wants us all to write a post for Family Day, mine is coming a few days early.

I have written before about how close I am with my dad and how I thought he was a rockstar when I was a girl. Well last weekend reminded me of why.

I took my Boy and nephew to the beach for an extended weekend and to take care of some other things. My mom and dad came along. We went to Ocean City, Maryland. I love it there.

My family had taken a family vacation to Assateague Island in Maryland every year until I was married. In fact, my Grandparents took my dad and aunt and uncle there when they were kids – every year.

It was the one thing in the summer that I looked forward to the most. To head to Assateague, smell the salt water, fall asleep to the sounds of the waves crashing onto the shoreline. We always camped either in tents or small trailers and we always had a good time.

My sister was a late sleeper, as was my mom. But my dad and I would get up before the sun and watch it rise over the water. We’d sit in the sand and share a cup of coffee or a donut and watch the sun come up.

This weekend, I stayed in bed long after the sun rose but my son is an early riser. He was up with his Papa, and before I could say otherwise, had stripped down and donned a bathing suit so that he could sit on the wall at the boardwalk having coffee with his Papa. Here are a couple wonderful photos that I took from the balcony of our hotel room. They are kinda fuzzy.

I can only imagine what the Boy is telling my dad. I’m sure it is fascinating as it was quite animated. As they sat there while the sun came up, I stood on the balcony looking down at them and remembering sitting on the beach with my dad.

He’s the same fun guy who would toss me into the water and then laugh a big belly laugh when a wave knocked him down. He’s the same guy who would take me to the boardwalk for Thrasher’s French fries and Dumser’s ice cream instead of dinner. He is the same guy who taught me to fish for crabs and who, at dinner that night would stick a claw on his nose, pretend to be in pain and then tell us “that’s what we get for ripping the legs off the little suckers!” He is the same guy who would go out of his way to make sure that each week-long vacation was the best one ever.

We only had a weekend, but he managed to make it special for the boys. He fought pirates for their treasure, took the boys to swim in the surf in their pajamas (mom wasn’t impressed), went clamming with the boys – in their underwear (again not impressed)

Ate popcorn and ice cream for dinner and had “slushies” for dessert. Played with hermit crabs, found sea shells on the beach and jumped up and down on hotel room beds. My dad is still the same fun guy he was when I was growing up. Cept now? He’s a grandpa and the fun he makes is really just his love and joy spilling over.

You can see it in this picture here. That’s my dad. His smile, in fact, his whole face is lit up with joy over seeing the fun the boys are having. That’s my boy in the green. If you look closely, his feet are not even touching the boat. He is jumping in the air because he was so excited that they won the treasure from the pirate. Though it was a short hour, it was an activity my boy and my nephew will remember for many years to come. Perhaps one day they will tell you about it in there own way. Sort of like my remembering those sunrise mornings with my dad. Just me and him, sitting on the beach, knowing that no one else in the world loved me like my dad did. My boy has a dad like that. My nephew does not. My dad gets to be that guy all over again, for my boy and my nephew. He’s a rockstar. There are few like him.

Just look at this face and tell me that his "Papa" doesn't light up his life!