Three good reasons I am enjoying Father's Day
There is apparently some unwritten rule that no more than 60% of my immediate family can or will look at the camera when a picture is being taken. This is the best we can do.
The event we were celebrating was the graduation of my daughter from Berry College in Rome Georgia. My elder son standing next to me graduated a week later from Nashville Tech. The other kid - my slacker son Evan - is taking the five year plan via MTSU. I couldn't be any prouder of all three of them.
The road to this picture, like most families journeys, has often been twisted and strange, wonderful and amusing. The father in the picture has been disqualifed early each year of their lives for 'Father of the Year' award, but somehow, we managed to arrive mostly intact.
My daughter is leaving us in a few days for the Peace Corps. She will be stationed in Peru. Needless to say, a Peruvian trip is in our future. I am excited, scared, nervous, edgy, happy and proud about her decision to join the Peace Corps. I remember just a few years ago when I dropped her off a month early for her Freshman year - she played soccer and had to practise and train a month before school - and remember how we both teared up and how I could barely see the road driving home. I remember those first few weeks of phone calls when she was so nervous and worried and how I got through those days and weeks knowing the richness of what was to come for her in the following months and years.
Each year my kids ponder what to get me for this day...good grief...just looking at that picture at the top of this post gives me everything I need for a lifetime.
