A Tale of Two Dads

This Father's Day I'd like to pay tribute to two men who've helped make me who I am.


This Dad gave me my brown hair and brown eyes. He taught me how to bait a hook and play Blackjack and make hot chicken and dumplings and Key Lime pie. I treasure memories of going catfishing with him finished with sunset-lit Klondike bars, or digging crawdads out of the bucket he was holding, or sitting beside the fire pit at our cabin in Heber, or proudly holding up a 17-pound carp he taught me how to catch (and let me reel in myself) at Apache Lake. He taught me to always wear sunscreen and a seatbelt, and that you get more out of your shampoo if you put some water in the bottle. He was my first Final Cut Pro teacher. When I tell him about my future plans, I can always hear a (loving) concern in his voice, but he never tells me not to do what I want.



This Dad (Pops, as I say) taught me about Harry Nilsson and George Harrison and Miles Davis. I treasure memories of waking up to his band playing "Brown-Eyed Girl" in our E-Room (the loft space in the house reserved solely for his instruments and rock and roll memorabilia), and surfing with him in Hawaii, and making blueberry pancakes as he makes chorizo and hash browns on Christmas morning (wearing a Santa hat, of course). He values a good French press. When I call the house in a panic, he can always tell whether I'm crying and puts my mom on the phone pretty much right away. He very nonchalantly convinced me to ride my first real roller coaster. When I started crying as he drove me to the airport to come to Paris, he calmly said, "Hey, when you start to worry, just tell yourself, 'Just havin' some pizza, learnin' about Cuba.'"


I could go on about both of them. But suffice it to say that these two fathers, while completely different, are embedded in my heart. They've both helped to shape my tastes and my personality. Together they've set the bar high for the man who will be the father of my children. I'm so, so grateful to have both of them in my life, because while too many people don't even have one decent dad in their lives, I'm lucky enough to have two phenomenal ones.

love,
*jenna*