Dads are all the same

Today I had lunch with my friends Amanda and Farrah. Amanda's dad came along because he's in town for the Big East basketball something or another. My officemate just asked what he was like and I realized something:

Lunch would have been exactly the same if my dad had been there instead of Amanda's! My dad would have eaten the same thing (small salad, small soup, small sandwich), talked about the same things (basketball, hotel renovations) and would have had the same look of bemusement that dads get when their 25 year old daughters are talking with their friends!

And that reminded me of a story from the summer of 2002...

My mom's parents were both really sick. I got a voicemail from my mom and I couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying. Since I was a little worried, I called home right away. Here's the (relatively accurate) transcription of our conversation:

Me: Hey dad.
Male Voice (MV): Hi sweetie.
Me: Is mom there? I got a voicemail from her that sounded weird and I wanted to make sure grandma and grandpa were okay.
MV: She's still at work. Why wouldn't they be okay?
Me: Well, I know things haven't been great down there. Man, she's working a lot these days.
MV: I know. How'd your test go?
Me: I got an A! Isn't that great?
MV: Wow, honey, that's wonderful.
Me: So you are sure that everything is okay with them?
MV: Yeah, I don't know why it wouldn't be.
Me: Well, I couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying in her voicemail.
MV: I don't know what to say.
Me: Ugh, dad, never mind, just have her call me.

After I hung up I felt a little bad about being short at the end. I went to call back and when I looked at my phone I saw that I'd dialed the WRONG NUMBER. I'd been talking to a dad who wasn't MY dad for a few minutes and didn't notice!

Dads are all the same.

Nita

My grandma Nita died on Thursday.

My grandma and grandpa met when she was 27 and he was 31. He told me that he was broke because he'd just gotten back from WWII. He wanted to get married, but wasn't sure how they'd survive. She told him she had some money from teaching and that they would just have to "make a go of it." Their 58 year love affair created four children, 11 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. At the funeral I was looking at my family and thinking about how amazing it was that 2 young adults who fell in love managed to create so many other wonderful people.

She died 24 hours after I arrived, alone in her room with just my grandpa. After 58 years of marriage, he got to be the one to hold her hand and say good-bye.

We should all be so lucky.