Lucky Duck

I feel guilty when people talk about father figures.

I've written before about my father, and what an incredible man he is. So all things considered, Pops should fill my "father figure" quota. But somehow, the stars aligned and I was blessed with another father, equally incredible, but in different ways.

Jeff and his wife (I wrote about her in this post) shared their time, their holidays, their love and their ambitions with my family.

As a little girl, I would randomly receive presents from him, although they were always labeled "from a secret admirer." I still have a necklace charm that Jeff gave me when I was about 8. When, during a rowdy dorm party, my laptop was broken freshman year, Jeff spent his Christmas holiday fixing my computer screen so I would have a computer at school. When I didn't have the cash to put a security deposit down on an apartment and I was too proud to ask for help, he found out and without fanfare, there it was. When I needed someone to think I was special, someone to talk to me, to see my potential, Jeff has always, always been there.

With everything that has been going on, it's been hard to focus on "real life" lately, but in a relatively unimportant way I was really disappointed that I didn't get any Thin Mints this year. We were slightly distracted during Girl Scout Cookie season this year.

And then, yesterday, I got a package in the mail from Jeff. And I remembered: He ALWAYS sends me Thin Mints for my birthday. He never forgets. And even though a box of Thin Mints will not fix the craziness of our lives, the fact that he remembered kinda does. Knowing that I have people in my life like him, make me feel like we can get through anything.

So yeah, I think I feel guilty about the awesome father figures in my life. I am just one lucky duck.