Anyway, in honor of Father's Day I want to write about my 2 Dads; Steve, my dad, and Marshall my father in law.
My Dad: Steve
Dad and Evie
My Dad, Me and my twin brother Stan in Korea
My Dad is really the only father I've ever had. After my parents divorced when I was 4/5 yrs old my mother never remarried. She never even really dated. I never had another male father figure in my life except for my big brother Paul. I'll talk about him more later. So back to my Dad. I have noticed that in the South a lot of grown women still refer to their fathers as their "Daddy". I never have called my Dad that, well maybe as a small child but certainly not since I hit puberty have I called my Dad, Daddy. I think it has to do with where my Dad is from, he's from Connecticut. Northerners just don't speak that way about their parents. At least that is my experience. As a young kid I didn't live with my Dad so he would come visit us and one of those visits he took us to the Riverwalk in Savannah and to the beach.
My Dad and I at the beach and on the Savannah Riverwalk
We moved in with my Dad and Mom-Michelle when I was going into 3rd grade. And it was amazing to live with them. Living with my Dad we had two stable parents that were home every night. It was great, oh and we all had our own bedrooms, no more sharing a room with my twin brother, and we lived in a house, not an apartment. And we did things together as a family on weekends. Some of those things included going hiking and going camping.
Top Pic: Dad, Mom, and me.
Bottom Pic: Dad and me when I had strep throat.
The one thing that he and I shared that I still cherish to this day is Swim Team. He took me to my swim practices and swim meets as a kid. He always supported me in that sport. In 5th grade my Mom-Michelle was deployed to Korea for the year so my Dad had to take care of all three of us by himself and work full time (and he got his Masters degree at the same time!). And he still found time to take me to my practices and meets. My practices were once a week at 530AM! So our little tradition was to go to practice and then go to Burger King for breakfast afterwards. To this day I can't have french toast sticks and round hashbrowns without thinking about my Dad. It was our special time together, just the two of us and it meant the world to me.
Me up bright and early for swim practice
When I was in 8th grade our family hit a rough patch and I decided I wanted to live with my Mom-Sally. My senior year I started doing therapy and I asked my Dad to come from out of state to do therapy with me so he and I could work through our issues and start to build a relationship again. He did. That was huge to me. And because he came out and we worked really hard together through really hard emotional stuff he and I did start to build a new relationship. And because of that I decided to go to college in Indiana where he was living so I could be closer to him and continue to build our new relationship. And I cherished my budding relationship with my Dad. I wanted so badly to impress him and make him proud. And I think I did.
My Dad and Mom and Grandma at his house in Indiana
I moved to Augusta, GA after college to be with my exhusband. When I became pregnant my Dad and Mom-Michelle decided to move to Augusta too so that they could help me with the baby and be close to their only grandchild at the time. He was at Evelyn's birth and that meant so much to me. I continued to get close with my Dad and I also continued to try to impress him and make him proud.
Me, Dad, and Evie in Augusta
He has embraced me and my life and this time when I gave birth to Levi I waited for my Dad to be with me. I couldn't imagine giving birth without my Dad there to support me.
My Dad at Levi's birth
Our relationship is no longer me trying to impress him or make him proud. It is now me trying to know him and him trying to know me. And both of us having mutual respect and admiration for each other. And lots of love. I feel closer to my Dad today than I ever have before. And I cherish him now more than I ever have. So it's been a rocky road but it's all brought us here. And I love my Dad for all of it. As I am getting older I realize that I am a lot more like my Dad than I thought. I used to think I was more like my Mom-Sally but in fact I am more like my Dad (and my Mom-Michelle). I even look like him which I didn't realize until this year.
Some of the cool stuff that I got from my Dad:
- my love of Rock N Roll and Blues
- my appreciation for intellectualism
- my knowledge of chess (he is an amazing chess player, like award winning even today)
- my competitive nature (and a little bit of a sore loser streak)
- my perfectionist streak (my Dad hates to be subpar and so do I, if I am going to do something I am
going to do it right and succeed.)
- my love of the beach (my Dad grew up on the beach and always took us to the beach as kids)
- my ability to tune out everything and focus on the task at hand. This trait drives Mike crazy, and my Mom- Michelle too. We Boshears have this ability to really zero in on something and ignore everything around us.
- my sense of humor, it can be dark and twisted and I get that from my Dad and I love it!
- my love of the arts including drama, music, art. My Dad used to be an actor and he did musical theatre.
- my stubbornness, my Dad is not overtly stubborn but he definitely sticks to his guns on things he believes in
and I am like that.
What makes me proud of my Dad:
- his 20+ years service to the United States Army. He retired as a full bird Colonel.
- his education level. He has 2 masters degrees, he's a really smart guy.
- his dedication to my Mom-Michelle. He has been married to my Mom for over 20 yrs and I admire that
and appreciate it greatly.
- his love for his grandkids. I have seen a whole new side of my Dad now that he is a Gramper.
Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you!
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