Dad

  A year ago my two step-sons  went a long ways out of ther way to make sure I knew they cared for me,  they went even farther making sure their mother saw what they had done,  In june of last year My wife screamed at me for a divorce in front of all three sons.  The oldest became infuriated with his mother  and was soon joined by his sibling.  Now Im not about to bore anyone who reads this with the nasty details that transpired that evening.  I will however tell you I have a strong bond with my stepsons and my son.  All three of them have endured an excessive amount of pain and grief over the past year.  From their mothers divorce plea and the oldest two losing their bio father to a gunshot wound.    Since May, my mood goes from one extreme to another, so many life altering events took place at this juncture last year, yet it seems to have happened only yesterday.  I took my yougest shopping Saturday for football cleats , tennis shoes and shorts, then went to my mid sons for a bbq and visited with the oldest about his job and new marriage, the middle about his job and his future inlaws{they were there also}  and the youngest about his girlfriend issues.  A year has passed, Im not the crying blithering idiot I was a year ago, nor am I worried about my wife loving me anymore. That part is over, today I celebrate being a father of three very fine young men and a very beautiful daughter and I know each and everyone of them loves me, in ways only they can describe.  Dad, thanx so very much for being such a great influence in my life, without your patience and guidance at a very early age in my life I would never have made it this far. I have always been very proud of you, even though there have been many times  I thought you were crazy or just mean.  Being a father is not easy, and being a stepfather is twice as hard.  Typing these lines now, Im very sure that my children are wandering what the ol man is doing Sunday and when they call, Im just going to remind them how much I care for them and love them despite our differences. And Im gonna make sure they know that when Im crazy or mean its cause I had the best teacher in the world.