Fah-der's Day

I was going to write about a moment, one with Leah and her Papa. But then there was another moment, one with Hope and her Papa, so we'll just have to be equal here. And, as Hope's fond of saying these days, "That's fair."

Life is stressful. Work is hard. Days are hard. We run, run, run and don't feel like we're getting anywhere.

Then you look over while you're at the pool in a rare moment of being together, and you (and you here is me) see Leah putting her arms around her Papa's neck, laying her head on his chest as he's slighly inclined in the shallow wave pool and just being still, for a moment, which for our firecracker Leah is rare. It gave me pause. It was what it's about.

Then later, when a girl who is so tired from a day of church and a crazy schedule and time at Grammy and Grampy's with the inflatable pool and the water table and the big pool with Mama and Papa actually asks to go to bed before her sister ("Leah can finish watching the movie, but I'm ready to go up to sleep," Hope said) has, upon request, cajoled all of us into bed for a few cuddles, you have another moment. You look over and Hope lays her arm over her Papa's back, pats it. She takes her hand and runs it over his head. She puts her hand on his face and rests it, just for a moment, before returning it to his back to stroke him. With the other she reaches for my hand, and, just like that, is asleep.

So today as the stresses of life beat upon my spirit, I will carry with me this: Brian's a Papa. Hope and Leah have a Papa. We were together. We went half way around the world four times and back. And now we're a family.