Father’s Day, 2023

I received the most interesting card from the kids today. Well, truth be told it was written by Christian ( in his handwriting anyway) and presumably edited or at least approved by Olivia, as she is in Calgary at the moment. It is beautifully written, and includes all the sentiments that fathers should receive from their children. I will spare the details, except for this… it contains the words (I am not making this up) “venturous”, “circumspect”, and “moreover”.

How time has flown by.

The card is currently displayed on the mantle. Then, per tradition, it will mysteriously disappear into the memory box in my closet, where pretty much every card I have ever received from them is stored. I’m a bit of a memorabilia hoarder in this way.

Back when they were youngsters, the Father’s Day messages were so much less formal. I found an old one, also from the both of them, where the following was hand-written:

“Dear Dad, I love that you give me hugs and kissis”. – Olivia

“Dear Dad, I love that you take me outside.” – Christian

The latter message was transcribed by Roula, hence the perfect spelling. I am certain she coordinated the creation of the gigantic card by simply asking them what they loved about me. Their answers perfectly reflected the times, and made my heart swell. Still does.

Today’s card did as well, though in the vernacular of the two university graduates they’ve become. No less sweet, but man how time has passed!

And for the record, I am still perfectly willing to give Olivia hugs and “kissis” when needed, and Christian and I just got back from a week-long motorcycle trip to the Black Hills, so I guess I’m still taking him outside…