25 years of being a dad

This week we got rid of a bunch of furniture. Our leather sofa and loveseat set and dining set went out to the curb the day before large item pick-up day. We were so relieved when everything was taken before the garbage men came for it. (We also put out a queen size bed that the garbage men did get, but we didn't feel so bad about that.)

 Sitting on our sofa outside for the last time.

Today we spent the morning pruning trees out back in preparation to leave. Bill found a guy to come trim the Mexican fan palm out front and we're hoping that he can also blow the debris away for us. We're doing all we can do to get our deposit money back! Bill has a good eye for detail, and keeps finding things that "Kathleen is going to ding us" on. So with his keen eye, I'm hopeful that we'll do okay.

Here is my report on how Bill is doing as a father :). Bill is great about keeping in touch with family - including his children. He loves to talk to Will about what Will is doing at work. I love to hear him talk to Faith on the phone and then hear Charlotte in the background which inevitably elicits an, "ooooh" in a cute baby-talk voice. He sings little songs to Charlotte over the phone and she loves it. He and Ivy tease each other. Faith and Will think it's crazy because she has a different relationship with Bill than they do.  Bill worries about how much Will works and also about how much Ivy takes on. I always remind him that they are young and we did the same when we were young. He agrees.

Lots of life is about managing back pain right now for Bill. Some days are better than others, but he looks good and that's what counts! Right?

We will have one of our children here with us for Father's Day. Will is coming for dinner. We're going to take Bill out to a Japanese steakhouse. He loves that. 

Here's my favorite father's day song to end. It's actually a song that makes me think of Bill when I hear it. It's called The Riddle by Five for Fighting.

There was a man back in '95

Whose heart ran out of summers, but before he died

I asked him, "Wait, what's the sense in life?

Come over me, come over me"

He said, "Son, why you gotta sing that tune

Catch a Dylan song, or some eclipse of the moon

Let an angel swing and make you swoon

Then you will see, you will see"

Then he said, "Here's a riddle for ya

Find the answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I"

Picked up my kid from school today

"Did you learn anything? 'Cause in the world today

You can't live in a castle far away

Now, talk to me, come talk to me"

He said, "Dad, I'm big, but we're smaller than small

In the scheme of things well, we're nothin' at all

Still every mother's child sings a lonely song

So play with me, come play with me"

And hey, Dad, here's a riddle for ya

Find the answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I

I said, "Son, for all I've told ya

When you get right down to it

The reason for the world

Who am I?

There are secrets that we still have left to find

There are mysteries from the beginning of time

There are answers we're not wise enough to see

He said, "You're looking for a clue? I love you free."

The batter swings and the summer flies

As I look into my angel's eyes

A song plays on while the moon is high

Over me, somethin' comes over me

I guess we're big and I guess we're small

If you think about it man, ya know we got it all

'Cause we're all we got on this bouncin' ball

And I love you free, I love you freely.

Here's a riddle for ya

Find the answer

There's a reason for the world

You and I