Dads are special

(image from www.onewed.com)

I've been having a chat with my dad tonight. He almost made me cry telling me how proud he is of me for what I am doing in the church these days, and how he thinks of his grandfather and believes that he would be pleased to see his great granddaughter follow in his footsteps.

I don't think I have ever really fallen out with my dad. There haven't been any long silences between us, no real periods of discord. It is a very different and more placid relationship than that which I had with my mother - that was definitely more volatile, but no less loving.

Dad is a peacemaker, like me, and forgiving, like me! We want everyone to get on. He was in his forties when I was born and he wasn't a particularly hands-on Dad, but he has developed a different and perhaps stronger relationship with me as an adult daughter, and one which I cherish. Not having Mum around for the last 14 years has been hard on all of us, and I think that a lot of things would have been different if she had still been alive, but we have a positive outlook on life, and those of us who choose to spend time together enjoy doing so.

Dad is also building strong relationships with his granddaughters. I see that he is also immensely proud of them, of the young ladies that they are becoming and the achievements they are making all the time. He is impressed with the EFG's grasp of technology, and he is amazed at the YFG and her gymnastic ability - no one in the family has done gym before!