Two Amazing Men…

A girl with a great Dad that she can look up to is a very lucky girl indeed. Follow that up with finding an equally great mate, well that just about does it! Keely shines a light on her two amazing men…

The mark of a really great Dad – at least in adolescence – is when you just want to hang out with him. I can honestly say that I was never anything but stoked to be seen with my father. Even at the mall. Or getting dropped off for school.

Heck, for a couple of choice years in high school (wherein no one was knocking down my door trying to date me) my Dad and I would watch the X-Files on Friday nights. Sometimes we’d get some newly marketed Coffee Coolattas and feed my budding caffeine addiction.

Other nights we’d all laugh like loons at Mystery Science Theatre 3000 marathons (to the continuing dismay of my mother) after a dinner where he grilled out or prepared his world famous fettuccini Alfredo. (My Dad’s Alfredo cannot/will not/shall not ever be topped as one of my favorite meals of all time. Ever.)

My father has always been cool. He’s been a musician since his youth and has a staggering knowledge of all things rock. (Plus, he shreds the guitar.) Long car rides were full of harmonies, music trivia, and B-sides. One of my earliest memories is of sitting in his music room and having him place studio headphones over my toddler ears to better discern the nuances of AC/DC.

“Can you hear that, Keel?” (Yup.)

And the man must have been exhausted. For the longest time my parents ran a breakfast, deli and catering business, starting work before dawn and making sure to be home for family dinners each night. In his “down time,” he was run ragged by the crazy schedules of his four daughters, wife, and mother-in-law – all with his trademark nonplussed cool. He also possesses the gift/misfortune of being a talented carpenter and handyman, meaning his work is NEVER done.

So I had pretty high standards when choosing a partner – who would, after all, become a father and co-runner of the household.

Fortunately, I must’ve been pretty good the day they were handing out mates. My husband P.J. – despite the pre-baby fears that most new parents have – is a stellar Dad.

I remember early on in my pregnancy, sleepily talking with him about our future family, and having him utter something that made me laugh even then.

“I hope it’s not a girl… because I’m afraid I’d love her too much and it’d break me.”

This struck me as endearingly ridiculous for so many reasons, among them the fact that any child of ours – regardless of gender – would fill us with such a capacity for love that it would indeed be crippling.

When our daughter Nora Jane was born, I got to witness a transformation in this guy who already held my heart. He loved me – I never had any doubt about that – but the feeling for this new little creature surprised even him.

He’s taken on less acting jobs – something that I know was initially painful – because six weeks of rehearsal could be a new stage in the life of an infant. It was also precious time away from his mini clone and most fervent admirer.

He happily changes into a tee shirt after work, knowing full well that the aftermath of dinner and bath and dancing around the living room would ruin anything appropriate for the office – and the guy redefines “hands-on Dad.” And if he’s not the one in charge of the pre-bed story time routine, it can be a sad state of affairs.

Nora summed it up pretty nicely the other morning when she awoke to the scent of sizzling bacon and the sounds of rock coming out of the stereo. Without waiting to see who was in the kitchen, she burst in with a jubilant “My Dad!”

As a gal who can’t walk past barbecued chicken on a backyard grill or a smell a home’s sawdust without smiling at the thought of my own father, I totally get where she’s coming from.

Some girls are just really lucky.

– Keely, Lollygag Blog

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 15th, 2011 at 7:18 am. It is filed under Motherhood, Relationships and tagged with Fathers, Husbands, Marriage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.