Dad
I grew up living in a 28 day cycle. My dad worked on tow boats, home 28 days, at work 28 days, so holidays fell whenever he was home. Sometimes Christmas was in November. Sometimes Christmas had Thanksgiving Turkey. The date never mattered, only that he was home.
When I was really little, he used to tell me bedtime stories that started out normal but would quickly go off the rails. Hansel and Gretel dropped French fries, Cinderella got a tractor. He would even make up words while reading to me and wait for me to correct him, which is how he helped me learn to read.
We didn't take many family vacations, mostly to Jackson, Mississippi and Hot Springs, Arkansas. He loved talking about history and nature, and made everything feel magical and important. Those trips were rare but unforgettable, tiny islands of time when he could just be Dad on land instead of the man who spent half his life on the river.
When I was a teenager, he volunteered for two years with the church's youth group, trying to be more present in ways his schedule allowed. But that was cut short when he got sick with Swine Flu, and nearly died. I tagged along with my mom every single day for visiting hours, scared but determined to be there. It's one of the first times I realized just how much my dad meant to me.
Still, I wasn't very close to him growing up. He was gone so often, and when he was home he was usually hunting or fishing. As a kid, he always felt just out of reach, even when he was sitting in the living room. I didn't understand back then how hard he worked, or how little time he truly had to himself.
Everything changed when my mom got sick. He and I slowly started relying on each other more, and once she passed, whatever distance that was between us just disappeared. Now that he's a trucker, we talk nearly every day and see each other at least once a week. I still wish he had been a bigger part of my childhood, but seeing how much my kids love him, and how deeply loves them, softens that regret. It feels like we are healing together and making up for lost time. The relationship we have now means more to me than I could have ever imagined.
(I used grammarly instead of Hemmingwayapp to tighten this up and I'm not sure how I'm liking it.)