Monday, June 15, 2009

Celebrating Dads

When I was little, I was most definitely "Daddy's girl." He worked nights at the time, and most every day, after his shift, would bring me home a Zero candy bar. Do you remember these? Heck, I'm not sure if they're still available, but I loved them. I also thought they were some sort of rare and exotic candy, because of the white chocolate, which made them (and the fact my dad brought me one so often) even cooler.

But my dad was a very cool guy back then. He had a corvette and a motorcycle, and I'd get lots of rides in/on both. He'd go out of his way to make me smile, and if I was crying--heck, he'd move mountains if he could to make the tears stop. He protected me, loved me, and yep--I was the princess of the house. Oh, and he used to go to my Brownie meetings with me! He may have been the only dad at those meeting, actually.

And then I became a teenager...and well, my dad didn't seem so cool any more. We had lots of disagreements in my teenage years, and sometimes I thought all I wanted was to get out of that house because we really did fight that much. But even in the midst of all that teenage angst, he still went out of his way for me. He bought me my first and my second car--both of which were surprises.

I moved away when I was eighteen, and we barely talked for years. Most of the time, when I called home, I'd talk to my mother or my brother. I really only talked to my dad by phone on his birthday and on Father's Day. Of course, there were visits over the years, but those were maybe only once or twice a year.

But as I talked about in my Mother's Day post, we eventually moved back to my home city, and now I see my both of my parents fairly regularly. My dad might not have a corvette or a motorcycle any longer, and he certainly doesn't bring me Zero candy bars any more, but he's cool to me again, and I realize I've never stopped being "Daddy's Girl."

So, to my dad, who has always done everything he knows how to do to make sure his family is okay: Happy Father's Day. I love you and I'm proud to be your daughter.

5 comments:

Maureen Lipinski said...

TWO cars? Lucky girl! Beautiful post, Tracy.

Jillian Cantor said...

Tracy, this is such a sweet post. I hope you show it to your dad!

Lisa Patton said...

Beautiful post, Tracy. I'd have been the hit of the school if my dad had driven a motorcycle! Lucky you.

Lesley Livingston said...

Sounds like peach, your pa! (A motorcycle-ridin' peach!) Happy Dad's Day, Tracy's-Dad!

Tracy Madison said...

Thanks gals :)

You know, I just realized my father has actually bought me 3 vehicles. Right after our twins were born, he purchased us a used mini-van so we could haul the entire crew around at once.

Though, at least with this vechicle, we considered it a loan and paid him back :)