Dad Bod

Happy Father’s Day!  As a golf fan, it’s always one of my favorite days of the year.  The final round of the Men’s U.S. Open golf championship always falls on this day.

Lori has been spending more time with her father lately, which meant I drove solo to Durham last weekend to help our son move into a new apartment.  I went down on a Friday, returning to Ohio the following Sunday, and working hard almost every moment in between.  The year prior, our entire family of four moved him in to the previous place.  This time it was just the two of us.

My back hasn’t been 100% lately, and I was worried how it would hold up.  We got the keys to the new place at 10am Saturday, and was eating takeout Indian food for dinner at 10pm before hitting the hay.  In the interim, we relocated all of his belongings and completely cleaned the old apartment, handing the keys back to the landlady after a walkthrough.  

I felt surprisingly good when I woke up Sunday morning.  A preventative dose of Aleve plus daily yoga did the trick (not to mention regular visits to Always Forward CrossFit).  A quick trip to Target Sunday morning for some sundries, then we loaded up the car with things the lad wanted to send home and I hit the road back to Ohio.

At some point doing all this work on Saturday, I could feel my body moving much the same as my dad’s did when he helped me with big, physically challenging tasks.  It was uncanny - not exactly that I had become my father.  Just that I knew exactly what it felt like to be him, back when he toiled with me on various projects.   Like when we moved dirt in the backyard - with shovels, by hand, to create a level spot on which to build the boy’s play set.  Or when we re-roofed the house not long after moving to Granville.

Physical labor was no stranger to my dad.  I felt so close to him that day - and to Henry.  How many times will I have him all to myself again?  For him, it was a day of hard work,  accomplishing a big task.  It’s impossible for him to know how special it was to me.  Maybe some day he’ll have his own weird I’ve-become-my-father-deja-vu moment.

I see a chiropractor on a regular basis - something my father never did.  Knowing how my body feels today with regular back adjustments, it’s hard to imagine what dad’s in-body experience must have been.  He was a tough old man.  

Sunday Supper
For Sunday Supper today, these Garlic Butter Steak Bites are very dad-friendly, as are these French Onion Sliders.  Southern Fried Corn and Lemon-Garlic Kale Salad round things out.

Sunday Music
This Progressive House Mix will have your booty shaking today - let it rip!

If you know anyone who might like this essay, please send it to them. 

Have a great week ahead!  Offer support to others.  Make good use of this day.  And let me know how I can help.

Peace & Love,