I’d like to wish two very special people a Happy Father’s Day today. They are my father and my father-in-law, Gee’s father. These are two of the most important people in my life, and I don’t believe that I tell them this enough.
My father-in-law honored my in a way that I had never expected. During Gee’s illness, he had trusted me with her care, even though he is a medical doctor, and I am not. He once told me that no one could have taken better care of his daughter than I had. That was very important to me, as she had become my first priority ever since I first heard her voice almost eight years ago. He taught me that love is at least as important as knowledge—that my love for his daughter was just as important in fighting her cancer as his medical knowledge.
I’d also like to give my father credit for an e-mail I recently received.
My friend Paul forwarded this e-mail to me.
Dearest Dan-
I ran into your web page quite by accident this morning. Skipping from one blog to another as I ate a breakfast burrito here in Albuquerque. I wanted to thank you for your sharing your personal story of you and Gee. She sounds like she was a wonderful person, and you (as you are aware) were so blessed to have found that one love and to have had the opportunity to share that love is so special.
In this day when marriages (mine has lasted 32 yrs) doesn’t mean anything to people, and few people know what real commitment is, It is heart warming to run into young people who really do fall in love. As a mom with three girls, you give me hope. Even though I have been married for years, it was not that love you had.
You seem to have a great heart and a wonderful head on your shoulders, I have to attribute this to great upbringing. You must have a strong and wonderful (not only mom
– but ..) a great dad too.
Over my 57 years of life I have seen too many of the generations younger than I am look for something to make them happy outside of their family. Be it drugs, gangs or obsessive religion, I tell my girls anything in excess is not good.
Well, I know you’re a busy guy, I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed reading about you and your life and that today you touched a heart in New Mexico.
Jen
I would agree with Jen, that much of what I did for Gee was because of who my parents helped me become. My father was the one who taught me that commitments are important, and that family is something to be cherished—even if it is a family you have just newly found, as I did Gee. Many of the characteristics of my personality are very similiar to that of my father.
While my father and I may have had our differences over many things—the one thing I know is that he loved Gee almost as much as I do. My father was the one Gee turned to when she wanted to move back, and who flew to Seattle to help me move my beloved Gee back to Virginia. That trip was one of the most beautiful memories I have of time spent with my father, and I will always cherish that time we spent together.
I still don’t know how I knew I was going to marry her when we first spoke that Friday afternoon many years ago. And to this day, I am thankful that she chose me, of all people, to marry. While Gee may be gone, her family is still my family, and My Life With Gee continues in many ways. Later this summer, I look forward to seeing the first grandchild in Gee’s family—as my sister-in-law is expecting and due shortly.