March 21, 2010

Dads and Grandpas


I LOVE this commercial.  I saw it a long time ago on a random station and fell in love with it.  I was reminded of it again the other day and wanted to share it.

I think one of the reasons I love it is because I had a dad like this.  A dad who dressed up in jewelry and played Pretty Pretty Princess with his daughters....who formed the Pep Pops, a group of dads who cheered on their daughters as they were competing in cheerleading competitions....and, who never missed an important event for any of his daughters.

And, I had a grandpa like this.  He was a dad that started a Little League in his small Pennsylvania town for his kids....who also started the Boy Scouts there.....who acted as Dad to kids who were not his own, but who needed a dad.....and who showed that same fatherly love to all of his 19 grandkids and 8 great grandkids.

One of Grandma and Grandpa's old neighbors, who grew up in the neighborhood and whose mom still lives across the street, wrote a letter to Grandma.  This is what it said:

Across the miles, my heart weeps with you.  He was always there when my own parents were at work.  He was my nieghborhood dad.  He wouldn't let me get away with anything.  Whenever I was outside doing something I wasn't supposed to do, he would be right there to stop me.  In the later days, my dad and him would yell back and forth when they saw each other, all sorts of insults like Grumpy Old Men.  It was hilarious.  Just know that I loved him like my own father, and he will be dearly missed from his neighborhood son. 

I think it is very telling of the kind of dad he was.

And, I know that Nick will be a dad like this.

I am so thankful that I grew up with amazing men like this, and that my kids will also get to have a dad who is invested in all the little things in their lives.  And, they will have Grandpas who will love them dearly.  I am sad that they will never know their Great Grandpa Carmack personally, but they will know all about him from me. They will know what an incredible man he was.  


1 comment:

  1. this made me cry. i am so thankful for dad and grandpa

    ReplyDelete