In honor of this special day, I wanted to share a watercolor painting I created.
It started with a relaxing Sunday afternoon painting session where I just sat on the porch outside and painted from the heart to one of my favorite songs.
I had no idea what it was going to turn out to be, and I truly had no intention for what I was painting except to “feel” the music.
Sometimes I do these types of paintings and then “sit” on them for a while. I just let them “hang out,” and I glance at them every once in a while until something pulls me in and speaks to me.
And it did. It reminded me of the wound that was healed by the light that entered it.
Happy Father’s Day to all the amazing dads! Here is a photo taken a couple years ago of me between two of my faves: my Dad and Hubby.
And in honor of Father’s Day, I want to share a blog post I originally wrote and posted five years ago. Today also happens to be my Dad’s birthday, so it is a very special day indeed!
July 17, 2014
Today is a very special Anniversary… A day that brings back floods of memories… floods of emotions…. reflections on time missed… but celebration of time and love shared… from here on…
You see – Today is a Father-Daughter Anniversary. Today is the 4 year anniversary of my reunion with my Dad (my “birth father”).
And I thought it deserved a special anniversary card to send to Dad to help us cherish the day.
So you might think that sounds a bit odd…. Father and Daughter Anniversary???
Well – I’m going to share a kinda big chunk and pretty personal part of my heart today. So – if you’re not into that or not interested, you may just want to skip this blog.
So here goes…
On July 17, 2010, I was reunited with my Dad (my “birth father” Dad so as not to be confused with another great man in my life that I also call Dad – I know – a bit confusing – and on top of that both of their names are John!).
It was a day neither of us will ever forget.
The reason(s) for our separation for 39 years is really not the point or purpose of this story, nor do I feel appropriate to share, but the joy in our reunion is the focus here…. And oh what JOY we have shared.
For our second Christmas together again in 2012, I presented Dad with a book I wrote for him.
I called it, “The Journey Back to Daddy’s Girl.” The book is a celebration of our initial exchange of emails leading up to our reunion that covers the course of only a few short weeks, but close to 70 pages of exchanges. It chronicles how we discovered each other again – an adult daughter close to 50 years old – and an even more adult father – close to 70 years old who last saw each other when the little girl was 9 years old and the Daddy was just barely past 30.
We (well mostly I) asked each other questions (sometimes difficult ones) and our exchanges evolved from closings with “John (BF)” to “Love you, Dad”s.
Let me share the “Introduction” with you here.
———-
“Once upon a time, there was a little girl. Jodi had a Mom and a Dad and a little brother.
Life was good, until one day when Daddy left. Then Jodi just got to visit with Daddy on the weekends, until a day came when Mom introduced Jodi and her brother to a new Dad, and told her she would not be seeing her other Daddy any more.
Jodi lived a good life. Her new Dad and Mom took good care of her and her brother and her new baby sister, but Jodi always felt something was missing.
She thought of her first Dad throughout her life.
She dreamed of bumping into him on the street… their eyes would lock, and they would immediately recognize each other. Dad would tell her he loved her and missed her and was so proud of the woman she had become…..
Sometimes dreams do come true…”
———-
Marty (for those new here – the hubster), was instrumental in helping me find my Dad.
It is so much more incredibly easier than imaginable with the internet and people search software these days.
Marty has known for years – probably before I even realized – that there was a part of me missing – that there were unanswered questions – that there was a dad out there that I needed – and who needed me. He has asked me over the years about it – ever since we started dating when I was a mere 16 year old high school girl and he was a “mature” 20-year old “man.” (That story is a whole blog post for another day). When Marty realized my yearning had grown so strong, and my need was so great, he was the one that took the step to reach out for me, and the resulting reply is etched in my mind and on my heart forever:
“Hi Jodi – Yes. I am your “Birth Father.” It was an answer to prayer hearing from you. I hope that you and John are both fine. To this day, I regret the worst decision I have ever made. I was talked into doing something, but I had my own mind. At the time, I thought I was doing the best thing for your two. Can you ever forgive me?”
And so began my Journey back to Daddy’s Girl.
And now we celebrate four wonderful years of being a reunited father and daughter, which began on July 17, 2010 when my Dad showed up to my house with a huge bouquet of flowers, a face that looked exactly like mine (and resembles Tom Jones I think only to me 🙂 ), immediately telling me he loved me, and he missed me, that I was beautiful (only to him I’m sure 🙂 ),and he was so proud of me. You see – he wanted to fulfill my dream… He wanted our reunion to be the wonderful event I had dreamed about over the years…
We both cried – happy and sad tears. And we have talked almost every day since then. We’ve spent birthdays and holidays and Father’s days together. He was with me at our son Jake’s wedding. He loves my family as his own. His family has embraced me as their own. They have always known about me, and they welcomed me with open arms.
I will never forget the first time I met my Dad’s wife, Carole (aka Mom 2). The first thing she said to me was, “Your Dad always promised me a daughter, and now I have one. We’ve been praying for you for a long time.”
The epilogue of my book closes with:
———-
And so it began …….
With a simple email …
A journey back to Daddy’s girl.
And now, two and a half years later …
… we write each other almost every day
… and talk every weekday morning at 7:05
We’ve spent Father’s days together and holidays and birthdays and are part of each other’s lives again.
Our families love each other and we love each other.
‘What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life’
Dreams do come true!
this is notTHE END.”
———-
Father & Daughter Reunion Day – July 17, 2010
I hope this message will encourage those adult children who were separated from birth parents – at whatever age (birth, childhood, teenager, young adult) – for whatever reason – to reach out and try if it is something that has yanked on and ached in your heart for years.
Maybe your ending will not turn out as good as mine did (and of course there is much more to our story than I’ve shared here so far) , but can anything hurt more than the emptiness and not-knowing that you feel every day? Could the potential rejection be any worse than what you have imagined or decided or dealt with for years in your heart?
Love is worth the risk. It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all. Closure or resolution or answers to decades of unanswered questions can let you sleep at night… can bring you peace… can make you right with yourself! I’m certainly not an educated or trained professional in this area, but I can only speak of my own personal experience.
I wish you joy. I wish you peace. I wish you resolution. I wish you wholeness of heart – no matter the ending. YOU are worth it. YOU are here for a reason. YOU are loved.
Happy 4 year “Anniversary” Dad! I love you, and I cherish you! (And I’ve been listening to “our song” again this week. I’m betting you will too.) ❤ “What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life!”
Father and Daughter and Red Balloon Watercolor 11×14
Happy Father’s Day.
Happy Father’s Day to my Dad.
So glad we have the opportunity to make up for lost time.
Happy Father’s Day to my Hubby.
Sharing parenthood with you has been one of my life’s greatest joys.
Happy Father’s Day to my Son.
Watching you be a dad melts my heart.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
I painted this watercolor to create a card for my Dad for Father’s Day. I wanted to create a feeling with art that represents a bond that can’t be broken. The bond between a father and daughter. A representation of the feeling of being Daddy’s little girl – no matter age or time. Love you Dad. xoxox
If you are looking for a cute and easy, creative Father’s Day Card to make from a child or grandchild to his daddy or grandpap, how about this cute little hand print fishy? (Especially if Daddy or Pap enjoys fishing!)
My little granddaughter and I made this for her Daddy for his first Father’s Day. On the inside, we wrote: “You are the best daddy in the whole sea!”
A great little gift idea to go with the “theme” that we did was a gift bag full of fish: Swedish Red Fish and Pepperidge Farm Goldfish Crackers, which come in at least a dozen different flavors ranging from Vanilla Cupcake, S’mores, and Fudge Brownie to Pizza, Chedder, Pretzel, and Honey Mustard and Pretzel Blends.
Hope all the Daddys and Grandpaps out there are o-fish-ally recognized and surrounded with love on their special upcoming day.
They often sneak up or crash in on us,
and they can try to trick us up.
but if we know how to respond,
and if we ready ourselves for them…
they can result in home runs!
Embrace life’s curve balls.
Father’s Day makes me think of the curve balls life can throw us,
but it also reminds me of how special life can be
if we take that swing – in a leap of faith – and give it our all.
What is better than a warm apple dumpling with a scoop of vanilla ice cream?
How about an old-fashioned peach dumpling with ice cream and peach brandy in the caramel sauce?!?!
O M G are these amazing!
Hubby loves peach pie, and I had some peaches getting very ripe on the kitchen counter Father’s Day morning.
So I decided to make him this special treat of flaky pie crust wrapped around sweet juicy fresh peaches stuffed with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and vanilla and drizzled with a creamy, caramely, brandy infused sauce.
Is that Merv a lucky guy or what??!!
It was a great weekend, beginning with my boss winning Entrepreneur of the Year Friday evening at a gala I was so fortunate to attend with him and some of our colleagues and friends, and ending with having the kids over for Father’s Day.
Our oldest son, Jake, grilled an amazing pork tenderloin he marinated in fresh herbs and lemon, and he also brought over his homemade macaroni salad (one of hubby’s faves). Our daughter-in-law, Colleen, brought hubby more goodies – homemade apricot turnovers and homemade cinnamon swirl bread. He’ll be set for a while! And this is all after being treated out to breakfast at one of his favorite spots with our youngest son, Nick.
Unfortunately, I ended up getting some kind of nasty “crud.” It started Friday evening at the gala when my voice started going and my throat got scratchy and sore. I woke up Saturday morning with my right eye sealed shut, coughing up a storm, and absolutely no voice. I tried to take it easy, and we had to cancel Saturday evening dinner plans with friends.
I’m still feeling pretty punk, but oh well – still bucked up and prepared this yummy treat and enjoyed visiting with the family and playing Cranium and laughing way too much! Did you ever try to do a humdinger challenge with no voice?! Thank goodness whistling worked!
But back to these amazing peach dumplings…
I am the queen of improvising in recipes and had not had a chance to go to the grocery store this weekend feeling like I did, so when the recipe I found (at A Flock in the City) called for heavy cream in the sauce and I had none in the refrigerator, I decided to try substituting vanilla ice cream. Where there is a will there is a way! And I’m not sure I’d do it any other way after this!! I made a few other tweaks – using my own standby pie crust recipe, blanching and peeling the skin from the peaches, leaving out the nutmeg, and adjusting a few quantities of sugar and butter, but I really liked this recipe I found.
Hubby loved them, so I’m glad I made this treat for him. I also got him a new bird feeder – a Squirrel Buster (thanks for the recommendation Jo) and an Oriole feeder, so the birds are sure having a good time.
The squirrel however….. well – just watch this video (thanks Nick for allowing me to share!)
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and blanch peaches for 2 minutes. Immediately remove to ice water. The skin will slip right off to peel the peaches.
Cut peaches in half and remove pit.
Roll out pie crust and cut into 6 squares (approx 4″ x 4″) or large enough to wrap peaches
Place one peach half in center of each square, and fill with brown sugar and cinnamon, a dollop of butter, and a drizzle of vanilla.
Place second half of peach on top, and wrap entire stuffed peach with dough – sealing to keep juices in.
Place in 9 x 13 rectangular baking stone or dish.
Prepare sauce by melting brown sugar and butter. Bring to a boil.
Add vanilla ice cream and stir until melted and boiling again.
Add peach brandy, and continue boiling for 2-3 minutes.
Add vanilla and salt.
Pour sauce into bottom of baking dish around dumplings.
Bake at 450 degrees F for 35-40 minutes.
Serve warm with a dollop of ice cream or whipped cream.
Hope you all had a nice weekend celebrating Fathers and families.
I, however, have been blessed with FOUR great Dads in my life.
Well – really three that I call Dad… …and then a great one I call “Merv” or Marty or Sweetie – my hubby….
the best dad of all – to our amazing sons.
The reason for more than one dad in my life is probably a story for another time or another place.
But I do know that to everything there is a season, a time, a purpose, and a reason.
I started out with one dad… (I wish I had more photos, but here is one with my dad and brother and cousins and aunt and grandparents – and though I look like a G R U M P – I love this picture! Thanks Aunt Gwen!)
I gained another Dad in the middle part of my childhood who I am eternally grateful for that was by my side during the difficult pre-teen and teenage years and that walked me down “the aisle” and supported me and helped to shape who I am today…
Father-Daughter Dance – April 3, 1982
And then I was so fortunate to have my birth father re-enter my life several years ago… Who I talk to almost every day… Who has brought a whole new family into my life – who I love so much – and who all love me!
Father’s Day 2012 – Dad, Jodi, & Marty
On top of that, I was given the gift of one of the all-time-greatest father-in-laws, who I affectionately called, “Poops.” Those that knew him know why, and oh how we all loved Pap (who we lost a little over a year ago, but think about everyday). He loved me like his very own, and I know I am also who I am today because of him.
Pap’s Last Father’s Day – 2012 – with Nick, Jake and Marty
So as I think about all the wonderful dads in my life, I know that I AM THE LUCKIEST!
And I want to share with you one of my all-time favorite songs (that I first heard at the wedding of a couple of cuties that I love DEARLY and am forever grateful to – and they know why! Nikole and Michael) and for My Merv – a Great Husband AND Father.
the creative life in between 