Pieces of Me

We had the great pleasure of seeing my dad this week! He was out here on business and had some time to come and hang out with us. We went to dinner on Monday night to a great restaurant here in Riverside (which, by the way, you should check out if you're ever here because they make their own tortillas in front of you in the restaurant and they're amazing!!) and he got to come back and see us again today. Eli was talking about it for two days, asking me over and over when Grandpa was going to come back and see us. It was really cute, he had a fun time.

I just have to say that I love my dad. He's one of those people that you know will always do the right thing, no matter what the circumstances. He's always been the example to which I look for how to act (or at least how I should act) and he's just a genuinely good-natured person who has his family's best interest at heart.

And since I've gotten married and have started my own family, I'm so much more grateful and understanding of the kind of dad that he was. I suppose hindsight is always 20/20, right? I think it was hard for him when we were growing up, because we girls were always such good friends with my mom, that I'm sure he felt like he couldn't really compete with that. I'm glad to say, however, that with time he's really started to be much more proactive at being involved in our one-on-one relationship and I think he's doing a great job. There's also nothing quite like seeing your kids interact with your parents and seeing that grandparent role just seamlessly take place. I love it. And I love my parents.

I just wish that we lived closer together so that this wasn't such a rare occurrence. Someday, maybe. I can dream. :)