Father's Day 2015

I grew up basically without a father. A motorcycle accident claimed his life when I was just 9. Sometimes I find myself thinking about all the things I missed out on- dude things, ya know, but mostly I think about how blessed my son is to have a father who is active and present in his life. And that makes me so thankful.

I get so much joy from watching Matt and Henry play guitar, or playing cars on the floor, or when Matt gives Henry a bath, or reads the bedtime story. I've recently even heard Matt humming and singing Henry a lullaby. It's the sweetest. As a mother, there's nothing like knowing your son is being cared for. And heaven forbid anything should ever happen to me, I know Henry will be in good hands. 

I know it's Matt's role to do fatherly things with Henry, but it goes way beyond that with Matt's willingness to be involved. Whether it's knowing the words to "Frozen" (which we've heard a million times on the iPad in the car) or being able to tell when Henry needs a diaper change; Matt is always eager to lend a helping hand. He works so hard to provide for our little family, making is possible for me to stay home with our sweet boy. That's the mark of a true father, a loving father. 

And even though Henry may still be too young to understand the significance of today, you can see it everyday-in his smile, his laugh, his excited exclamations of "DADA!!", and his "uhyou" (I love you) in his little high pitched voice. Everyday is Father's Day is his little eyes. I've heard that you are good company when people are happy to see you come and sad to see you leave. I can say that Matt meets both of those qualities to his son.

Happy Father's Day, Matt. You are so loved. 

This is the first moment they met, when Matt was officially made a father.

My all-time favorite photo of the 2 of them. Matt was 12 hours a father.

This used to be a lunchtime ritual for the two of them. 

Henry loving on dada this morning.

There's no doubt in my mind this little dude loves you…a LOT!

A special Happy Father's Day to my Mom, who did the very best she could to try to teach us that bugs aren't yucky (uh-didn't work), how to change a tire (and we did this successfully), how to check the oil in a car, and to be independent. 

Heisel Rules!

PS thinking about you today, Andy, and reminded of all the love you passed down to your son. We miss you everyday.

Leather Anniversary

I don't usually follow traditional anniversary giftgiving that coordinates with the year, but out of curiosity I looked up this year, our 3rd Anniversary, and found that this is the year of leather. Coincidentally I had bought Matt a new leather wallet on my last trip to Nashville just a few weeks back. But, this prompted me to think about the similarities between leather and a marriage...

Leather, noun- a natural material designed to be preserved against decay.

Leather is tough, but must be cared for properly.
Leather must be cared for continually.
Leather can withstand weather.
Leather is strong, but not unbreakable.
Leather gets even more beautiful with age- wrinkles, scratches, and stray marks telling its story.

In each of those, you can replace 'leather' with 'marriage', and they all still apply. With proper treatment and care, whether it's a piece of leather or a the strongest of marriages, it'll stand the test of time. But it's imperative to take care of each. We call this- 'making deposits in the love bank'. I once read that true love is putting your partner's feelings before yours, and if you're both doing this, love should be given back equally. I love that. I want us to not forget to take care of the other.

Matt,
It's been three years already; can you believe it? We've had so many life events already that have made us stronger and some have tested our strength and have brought us even closer- our son is my favorite! I love your role as a father, and seeing you interact with our son brings so much joy to my heart.

I wish for us that our marriage continues to be "as strong as leather", and to do so we need to be sure to "preserve it" with care and love, remembering to continue to make deposits into each other's love bank. And I certainly hope for us that one day our wrinkles tell of our love story, and that when we count them-we see challenges that made us stronger, but mostly we see the love that keeps us together…through the good times and bad, for better or worse.

And just like leather, I hope our marriage keeps getting more beautiful with age.

Happy Anniversary, Babe! I love you.

Heisel Rules!