I get a little weepy every time Father's Day rolls around.  I am fortunate though, my Dad is still with me and my parents live just 45 minutes down the road.  I get weepy because it is a reminder of how fortunate I am that my Dad took on our family.  Without him, my life would certainly have been quite different...and I don't think for the better.

My biological father died when I was five.  I remember the night well, but do not have that many other memories of him.  To be honest, most of what I have learned about him was not all that great.  After his death my mother, brother, sister, and I were uprooted and moved from our home in the northeast to Florida with his family.  It all seems like a blur now.  A little over a year after his passing, my mother became engaged to the man we called Uncle Bill.  Now Uncle Bill was not a relation, just a friend of my Father's.  I remember telling my first grade teacher that mommy was going to marry Uncle Bill.  You can imagine how that phone call went.

I remember the beautiful wedding and crying for hours when I found out that we didn't get to go with them on their honeymoon.  I clung to my new Dad's hand and refused to let go.  I wasn't going to let this one get away (my Father had passed away while on a business trip.)  Looking back, I am constantly amazed at the courage of my Dad, leaving his bachelorhood and taking on an instant family.  After all, Dad once dated Miss America!

With three kids in tow, we were off to Alaska to start our new life.  Dad seemed to be a natural at fatherhood.  I have done just about every family activity that can be done, and visited just about every museum and natural wonder in this country.  He taught me how to drive, dried many tears, & told me to "wipe that crap" off my face when I tried to sneak out with makeup, because "you're just to pretty for that."  Which yielded a weepy "yes Daddy" from me.  He taught me how to garden, how to build, how to be strong, and much to his chagrin, how to think for myself.  We don't talk politics anymore.  I keep telling him that he has only himself to blame for my having strong political opinions.

Father's Day is a yearly reminder of the critical turn my life took because of this man.  Thank you to you Dad and to ALL of the fathers and dads out there natural born or not...and especially to those brave souls who take on an instant family.