Celebrating the Fathers in our Lives

"Be more than a father, be a dad. Be more of a figure, be an example."

Since being diagnosed with cancer, I have certainly had many opportunities to acknowledge what a truly amazing husband I am blessed with. Not only has he been there with me every doctor's appointment, every long night, every fear, and giving me every hope, he has been the example and measuring stick of love for Cam and Jordan. 

The cries of "Daddy!" and patter of feet running towards the door has always filled my heart, seeing Cam and Jordan run for Daddy when he arrives home. The joy on their faces and his willingness to play, Daddy bedtime routines, camping trips,  face flumpers, bike rides, building of igloos, backyard pools, sandboxes even after working shift work has set the bar high for many dads in our lives. These past few months, Jason has been blessed with the gift of time to focus on our family rather than his career. Somehow we have been given this chance to have Jason at home, to not only take care of me but to nurture and support our kids. Jason has become the gymnastics cheerleader, chauffeuring to competitions in Ontario, watching long hours of routines, now in charge of videos and picture taking honours. He has made many many trips to the arena on his own, late night practices, 4 on 4 games, playoff hockey. He is counted on to provide play-by-play updates via bbm to me at home while I am in bed, too tired to make it to a game. He has attended parent interview nights, drives to school in the rain, orthodontist appointments, doctor and dentist appointments, nighttime bike rides, provided computer programming advice to Cam, building laptops for the kids, studying for exams and tests. The kids know that their Mom is not able to do everything she usually does but without question their Dad is there to take on the Mom roles and still be the "Daddio". He has embraced this struggle in our lives to have an ultimate opportunity to be there for his kids. He is not just a figure, how he handles my cancer diagnosis provide our kids with someone to look to for comfort and knowledge that everything is going to be ok.

Thank you Jason for taking on so many opportunities to be there for our kids when I physically can't. You never ever act show you are tired, or scared or frustrated. I have been working to refrain from saying "I'm sorry can you...." because I know you will just do it because that's what husbands and dads do. We will one day look back on this time in our lives and smile at the time we have been able to spend not only together but with our kids who are at an age where as teenagers they will be drifting away from our home and beginning to make their own lives. How fortunate we are.

Jason and I are also incredibly blessed with having our own Dads in our lives. Grandbob and Grandpa are such important figures in our kids lives. They have set the bar high for us as parents in seeing them continue to care for our families as parents do. We couldn't do it without their support and love. 
This coming weekend, celebrate all the fathers in your lives. Embrace the chance to spend time with your families as we are going to do up at the cottage in Wiarton. I am continuing to seek out the positive ways that cancer is changing our lives. As I have said before the gift of TIME is one of the biggest revelations I have made. We only have so much time, allow yourself more time for your family and less time for the other stuff.