Popsi-Cola

I've got to make up for all those days I missed in Grateful November, especially since I was saving my all-time loves for the end of the month! I guess I forgot how crazy the end of each month is... Seriously, fall is crazy for end-of-the-month holidays. Oh, and why do stores have major sales at the end of the month when money's running low? If sales were at the beginning of the month, I'd be on that so fast, but since they're at a time when I feel strapped no matter how good of a sale it is, I end up not buying anything from that store. (Which, let's face it, is probably better, but frustrating, too.) Anyone else think this is weird? Anyone in retail want to explain it to me? Joy F.?

Well, anyway, over the next few days I will upload all my make-up grateful posts. Keats is simultaneously teething and in a growth spurt, so we'll see how it goes, but at the moment he is calmly chewing on a teething biscuit in his chair... too bad all our bibs are in the wash. Yeah, it's messy over here (but vacuumed)! 

So, today:

My dad with my son, Keats.

I'm grateful for my dad. He is such an interesting, intelligent, and funny man and so full of heart and love for his family. He's fluent in several languages and can get by in even more, something of which I am completely jealous as I seem to be the only one in my family who does not possess this inherited talent. My father seems to take pictures with his brain and can remember minute details and information from articles he's read tens of years ago. I am constantly in awe of my dad. He is constantly reading and learning, figuring things out. I feel like I really got to know my father for real when I became pregnant in high school. When it came time for me to sign the papers giving up my right to be this child's mother, my dad sat across the room (also needing to sign as my legal guardian) staring down at that sheet of paper, holding in his tears before saying, "Do we have to do this?" He looked at me and then my mother. We had all decided before the birth that this was the route we would take and when it came to it not a single one of us wanted to. But we did it. We each signed that list of papers and watched as this little boy was carried out of our house forever. A few months later, my dad was driving me to a church activity when he very randomly but very poignantly let me know that he was proud of me for what I had done, for the strength I'd shown. I'm sure it wasn't the first time he'd ever said such a thing, but it was the first time I can remember needing him to tell me. And he did. My dad has spent my entire life trying to figure out how to make my life as wonderful as it could be. He's stood by me in extremely difficult times and has continued to support me during my best times, too. He shows us his joy in having us as a part of his life and his family and relishes our time together. Thank you, Dad, for being as truly amazing as you are. I love you.