Steve and I are no strangers to celebrating Father’s Day without our Dads. My father passed away 15 years ago, my step-father 8 years ago and Steve’s dad 4 years ago. They were great guys and we miss them. From them, we (and hopefully our kids) learned compassion, humor (very corny humor), gentleness, and most importantly – how to make lemonade from some pretty nasty lemons.

What we aren’t so used to yet, as we lose our parents, is that we are also losing our teenage kids in a sense – off they go. The past few Father’s Days (and Mother’s Days for that matter) we haven’t had all of the kids home to celebrate with – at least one of them has been missing. They call or send a card but, in a not too distant future, we can see a time when their lives will take them elsewhere for holidays.

My wish for Steve for this Father’s Day and those to come is that he remembers the kids voices when they were small, scrambling to make him breakfast in bed before he got up (while he pretended to still be in bed even though he had already had his coffee and read the entire paper!). The homemade cards and artwork, the burnt toast, the trips to the zoo or the pool and the kisses and hugs. I do believe the kids will remember those days and do the same for their kids. As Dads & Grandfathers go, they have learned from the best.

Happy Father’s Day!