I have had the ultimate good fortune to have four children. Three great sons and three wonderful grandsons. Boys are easy. I'm one. I know how they work.
My 13-going-on-21 daughter is a conundrum. A teen girl must be the most complex puzzle I have been confronted with yet.
I am down with my sons.... they all checked in with me with Father's Day wishes and Nick is coming for BBQ dinner tonight. "Hey old Man - What's up" and we are good. They all have their own lives now and are scattered to the winds.
My still-at-home teen daughter has not spoken but a few words to me all week, those dripping in sarcasm with the obvious frustration of having to deal with a way-out-of-touch, senile, old-balding-deaf-man is mostly too much for her to take. Barely tolerable at home - sheer torture in public.Today, my wife and daughter went into Old Sacramento for lunch at a nice restaurant and I am buying...so that part was bearable (plus some slight coercion from her Mom was in there also, I'm sure)... I got a beautiful card from her with the reminder that it is the kind of card that folds into a pyramid, so you can stand it up on your desk for the world to see.
But, the gift was on the walk back to the car. 100+ degrees, a bit of an incline, so I am puffing like the little-engine-that-could. She came up from behind me and held my hand. In public. No words. Didn't have to. Yet another perfect day to be grateful for.
Happy Father's Day to All.
rlw
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