This past Father’s Day weekend was amazing. My wife Ashley and I split up our time between our families, visiting her parents and her grandfather, who has finally started doing much better after being sick for a little while. When we got back home, we went over to visit with my parents and grandfather, who just got out of the hospital this week. It was a great feeling to see some of the great men in our life overcome their health struggles and be present with us to celebrate this special day.
Not only was I so happy to share this day with our grandparents, but I was especially happy to spend it with my dad. He is a good, kind man with a solid set of morals and ethics that I really respect. He is an all-around genuine guy and I am so lucky to have him as my father.
I picked him up a card that talked about the price of things, and on the inside it said that even though times have changed, he will always be priceless. I know it sounds really corny, but it’s truly how I feel about him. He has always been solid in who he is, which is a man who puts God and his family first. No matter what the people around him are doing, he is always true to himself.
My father and I have always been close even when I was drinking. He was there for all nine times that I entered into rehab, and was supportive in ways that I really needed him to be without enabling me. If I didn’t get clean, I would have missed out on the true best friendship that we have now. We would have always been close regardless of the path I went down, but being sober just makes our relationship so much stronger and more meaningful.
With each and every Father’s Day that has passed since I have gotten sober, I feel more and more blessed to be able to be present in the moment with my father and truly celebrate him, because he deserves it. I strive to be the dad he is one day when I have children of my own, and I hope I am able to do so! He has been such an incredible mentor and overall good example of what a Dad should be in this day and age – someone that sticks to morals and has respect for themselves can be a rare find these days, and I am happy that I didn’t have to go too far to find it!
