Texting Daddy

Father's Day is always a little heartbreaking for me. When I was younger it seemed like Father's Day was designed to remind me that I came from a broken home. While the other kids hurried home from church or school with hand-crafted cards and the joyful expectation of a backyard barbeque I'd mope home knowing that there was a good chance my father would be too busy to even answer his phone.

When I married Father's Day became a holiday to celebrate my husband. Our usual routine includes cake, presents, and his choice of home cooked meal. Except for the years he works, like this year, when he's in Texas for work until the end of the month...

We did Father's Day back in May along with Mother's Day. The kids (read: I) gave him DARTH VADAR AND SON, a super cute book celebrating family Star War's Style. But somehow it's not the same, and today in church my children were moping. All I could think about was those long ago Father's Days of my youth when the phone would ring and ring and ring until I would finally admit my father wasn't going to talk to me.

My children have the reverse problem, DH wants to talk to them but he's probably working at any given moment in time. Enter the text message. I showed Miss Pink how to work my phone and let her text Daddy.

"Daddy I am sad and I want you back love Pink."

"I love you too, Pink. I'll call when you get home from church."

"Father, June is going fast. - Eldest"

"That's good. I'll be home at the end of June. The faster it goes by, the sooner I'll be home. Love, Dad."

No, they weren't exactly paying attention to the sermon about loving your father, but they did wait with bright eyes for DH to text them back. It's such a tiny thing, a few sentences snuck in between meetings, but to a small child those sentences mean the world.