Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there - especially Jon, Mike, and Tom! This won't be nearly as long or as sappy as my Mother's Day post, much to the relief of my husband, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate all the dads in my life.

I probably don't need to tell many of you what a wonderful dad Jon is. He's a natural dad! With a seemingly endless supply of energy and patience and silliness. Denis's face lights up whenever Jon walks into the room. When Jon comes home from work at night, Denis calls out, "Hello?" and then runs to the door to see who it is. "Papa!" All with a huge smile on his face. It's the sweetest thing I've ever seen. Happy Father's Day, Jon/Papa! We're lucky to have you. And we're so glad you liked your gifts! :)

Happy Father's Day to my dad, Mike. Your love and support and generosity are things I've probably taken for granted all my life. Did I ever thank you for attending all those ball games and middle school concerts? For always telling me I did a great job, even if I didn't? And how about for giving me my first car? Even if it was an old 1976 Ford LTD! :) Do you remember that time my friend Heidi and I came to see you and Mom in NH, and you 'took a long lunch' so you could hang out with us a little longer? And how you told us we had it all figured out - being teachers who had their summers free to travel and see the world and not be worried about work? How, if you could do it all over again, you might do the same thing? Well, that has stuck with me all these years. I, then a 20-something-year-old, was so pleased that my dad, then a 60-something-year-old, thought that what I was doing was cool. (Does this mean you aren't too disappointed that I didn't grow up to be a political scientist?!) Thanks for all you've done over the years, Dad. I can't wait for you to meet Denis!

Happy Father's Day to Tom, my father-in-law. I'll never forget our first meeting in Latvia in the spring of 2000. Did you ever think that bleach-blonde girl from Nebraska would still be hanging around?! Well, I'm glad I stuck around and joined your family (and returned to my natural hair color!). Thanks for welcoming me as a Schatzky and for sharing your second son with me. Thanks, too, for all the good memories at the cottage and in and around Ottawa. I'm counting the days until we arrive!

Ok, not too sappy, right?