HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!

Can you tell my father is ITALIAN????? :-) I'm sure you can tell that I must obviously look like my mother! Although, I believe I have my father's cheeks! So, we celebrated Father's Day last night by dinning out! We originally had planned to have everyone over to our house for a BBQ but dad decided that he would prefer to go out. A little non-traditional but it got the family together and no one having to clean up! :-)

Growing up, I always remember being told that if I had been a boy, my name would have been "Aldo" (my tatone's name). THANK GOD my mother was blessed with me being a little girl because I was named after my father, Anthony...a.k.a. "Tony". I approve of "Tonya" and would have adopted some nick-name to replace "Aldo". Somewhere along the line, I managed to make up that my dad wished he had a son. So, growing up, I was a tom-boy (hard for all of you who know me as "the duchess"...to believe I once was a tom-boy) and would do ANYTHING for my father's attention! I knew I had to be "tough" and get "dirty", so I would often follow my father around, hoping for an opportunity that I could show him I was the son he never had...:-) Ha, ha, ha! I remember helping him change the oil in the car...at least by doing the "heavy looking on". I also took a class in Industrial Arts, cutting wood and making numerous things...including a clock for Nana! In later years, I would assist him in changing the breaks on my assortment of vehicles, getting up at 3:30 in the morning (G, I wonder if that's why I don't have a problem getting up at that time now...) to go over and help him in the chicken barn (thank God those days are OVER)!!!!! I don't know where it all changed, that I finally accepted I was a "girl" and not a boy....most likely when I started being interested in "boys"...:-) I am thankful for the opportunity to have shared those experiences with my father growing up. I wouldn't trade them in for anthing in the world. I am proud to be his "little girl" and that he loved me through all my phases of life.

Thanks dad, for loving me unconditionally, for providing me with a wonderful life, for giving up part of your life to raise me. For teaching me to be a good human being and a hard worker, to love without judgement, to give and not expect anything in return and to love life!
~I love you from the bottom of my heart!

This is my "other" father....John! Gerry's father is absolutely wonderful! I learned early on that he and I had much in common....we LOVE gadgets!!!!!!!!!!! Need I say more??? Gerry is not like that at all and prefers a more simple life...the more simple, the better. I am glad that his father realizes the advantages that technology has to offer. I giggle whenever John mentions something he has recently picked up and the "reason" for getting it. I know that it really all boils down to the fact that it's a gadget because that's how I am. :-)

John is someone that keeps me grounded spiritually and someone that I go to for guidence when I struggling with things in my life. He is always good at telling me what it is I need to hear. :-) I am blessed to have him in my life and appreciate his love! He will soon be moving to Maine....if the weather stays dry long enough to get the foundation in! He is going to be a "snow bird" and summer in Maine and winter somewhere in the south!

Thanks dad for being a part of my life! I miss you and love you! :-)