This is a belated Father's Day message, but I wanted to say 3 things:
I feel so grateful to have a relationship with my kids where on a trip through Target with Jen, they were like "We have to get THIS LEGO SET for Daddy for Father's Day!" (This rivals when they knew with certainty that a Squirtle mask was the perfect gift a few years ago for Christmas.) They are simply wonderful.
I feel grateful for my own dad, and all of the encouragement and support and enthusiasm he's shown throughout my life. It's too much to write down here -- and I do my best to tell him this directly, but there are never enough words.
I grieve for our first Father's Day without Dan, Jen's dad. He was and is missed so much, every day, and especially on Father's Day. And I feel for everyone else who has lost a father or father figure and has to go through that day while feeling the immense weight of their absence. It stinks.
Happy belated Father's Day to all of the wonderful dads and father figures out there, and for those who find themselves in a more difficult place during days like this, I feel for you -- more so this year than any other.
-Jon
