Father's Day

Father's Day holds a very special place in my heart, which is something I didn't know until this year. Suddenly, a holiday which previously merited maybe a poem and breakfast in bed for dear ol' dad seems really important to me.
I've been thinking about Father's Day for weeks. I'm pretty sure that it was watching Travis become a father over the last year that has made Father's Day special to me.
Because Travis is pretty special to me, and a pretty amazing father.

But I have a lot of amazing fathers in my life.
Like my own father, who has always provided for us. He taught me that if you work hard and care about what you're doing - everything will turn out, even if there are rough patches.  He raised his kids to be passionate about things, and to go out and get what they want. He is the person I call about literally everything, questions about poetry and literature? Call dad. Wondering about a strange symptom the boys have? Call dad. Thinking about buying a new lens for my camera? Call dad.
He's an expert at everything, and he knows about everything.
He literally has dozens of hobbies ranging from food and fine art to mountain biking and professional fishing.  He has helped me realize that my passion for learning doesn't need to be confined to school (which I passionately despise.)
Oh, and did I mention that he's hilarious? Think, the funniest person alive.

My father in law, Dave, has been equally amazing to me over the last two years. Kind, patient, unassuming, hard working - Dave is probably the most Christlike person that I know. After Travis and I were married his love, more than anything else, made me really feel like a member of the Pitcher family. Whether or not he did it purposefully or subconsciously I noticed that an effort was made to help me fit in. I come from a very verbally and physically demonstrative family. We come in the door and everyone hugs and kisses and says "I love you." When we leave we all do it again. The Pitchers, however, aren't really huggers. They love each other, but they don't say it every fifteen minutes.
And I had a hard time with that. I would come in the door and start hugging and everyone would kind of awkwardly hug me back. We would leave and I'd say "Bye, love you!" and they'd go, "Okay. We uh, love you too." But one day Dave started hugging me. I came in and he took me in his arms and said "Hi, how are you?" When we left, he looked me in the eyes and said "Bye, I love you."
And suddenly, I didn't feel like Travis' wife. I felt like their daughter. I felt like he meant it, and he loved me. And maybe they never even noticed, because he didn't make a big deal out of it, but I noticed. And it meant the world to me.

And where would I be without my Heavenly Father? He loves me and knows me so much more than I love and know myself. He has a plan for me, and sometimes it blows my mind how things have worked out. I start thinking "Well, if I hadn't broken my foot freshman year, and gone home then I wouldn't have had to take summer classes. If I hadn't been here in the summer then I wouldn't have had Lauren and Lana for roommates. If I didn't have Lauren and Lana then I wouldn't have gotten into the art scene and foreign films and Indian food. And if I wasn't into those things then Travis and I wouldn't have had anything in common when we met."And it just continues.
My life is good. Really, really really good. I have two beautiful twins (which I never would have chosen for myself, but God knows what's right for me.) I have an amazing husband who caused me to believe in soul mates, even though I'd always said that there's no such thing and it was just people working hard to stay happy together. I live in a lovely home in a beautiful town and have really kind and helpful friends.  I have a family that gets along and loves each other. I mean, seriously, I have the perfect life. (knock on wood) But the thing is, I know that even if everything falls apart and I'm falling too, I have someone to fall back on. Someone who will always take care of me and love me and comfort me.
And he's given me the most beautiful and wonderful thing imaginable: my family, for eternity. I know that I will have Travis and Grey and Micah for the rest of time. Not until death do us part.
For eternity.
And that is awesome.

And Travis. Travis is amazing. Travis gets up every night in the middle of the night (even if I have to prod him a few times.) Travis works two jobs, pretty much full time. Travis comes home and does the dishes, and sits with me in the middle of the living room and helps me fold laundry, and whips up delicious dinners and doesn't think anything of it.
He doesn't say "I'm helping Becky, because she's busy with the babies" because I don't think he thinks of it as my job to take care of our house anymore than it's his job.
We're married. It's our job. It's our home, they're our babies, it's our life.
Together.
You should see those babies when their dad is here.  It doesn't matter if I'm holding a baby on my lap and kissing his face and tickling his toes. It's like I don't exist. They just stare and grin at their dad. Every time he talks, they go into fits of giggles. When he reads them stories, it's like they're hypnotized. When he sings them songs they goo and coo and try to sing, and when he tries to put them to sleep...
Well. He's the baby whisperer. When he's gone he'll call home and I put him on speakerphone. Whatever the boys were doing, they stop. They freeze and start to smile and look around.
Dad's here somewhere, isn't he? Where is he? We know he's here.
Holy cow. It is so cute.
Travis is asleep right now. He drove all day and late into the night to surprise me by getting home a day early, and then he was up with me all night.
And up without me, because when the babies wouldn't go back to sleep after eating, he put me to bed and took care of it. He'd been away, and he was ready to spend some time being daddy again.
Pretty much I'm crying a little right now. I cannot even express how much I love this man.
And seeing him with our sons is just the most perfect thing in the world.
And God gave us two! Two babies. Travis was thrust into fatherhood with a bang, and he took to it beautifully. He was meant to be a father, just as I was meant to be a mother.
And we were meant to be a family.
And I have zero doubts about that.

Happy Father's Day, to everyone who is or has or loves a father.
It's a nice holiday, isn't it?

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