reformed father's day hater

i was originally going to sit down and write something semi-depressing about father's day. but then i thought better of it because there's nothing to be depressed about. life is packed with all sorts of experience and the best we can do is make the best of what we're given. i was given a hand that wasn't exactly chocked full of me purchasing, "world's best dad," mugs. but that's ok. it helped me to appreciate the value of my friends' dads who would get those on father's day. it helped me to believe that just because i didn't get the ideal situation growing up doesn't mean that all dads are bad. 

over the past several years, i've built a new relationship with my dad. i call it new because it's never going to be what it once was. at this point, i think the best we can get is him being my friend who can give me life advice (on anything except how to be a good dad or husband). he lives far, thousands of miles away, but we make the best of it. every couple of years we get together and we hang for a week or so and it's cool. i go into it with a positive attitude. i could easily be lazy about it and accuse him of bad things and blame every bad thing in my life on him, but i don't wanna do that. my life's not bad and i'm happy that we still have time to work on our bond together. 

and i got me an awesome mom. and sometimes i wonder if i'd know the full depths of her awesomeness if she wasn't thrown this challenge. she took it head on and never cracked. she's my hero and favorite human being. i'm a momma's boy. i'm grateful for our bond, i'm grateful for her, and i'm grateful for all she did for me and my brother over the years. i think about that more deeply on father's day than most other days and it fills me with gratitude.