D Bonding

Unlike many of our contemporary helicopter parents, whose obsession about their kids was getting them to go to "prestige" colleges, I never much cared about that.  They both were accepted and attended the most competitive place in Florida, UF, and that was fine with me.  Plus, it allows me to unleash a never ending barrage of Gator jokes -- UF and Notre Dame will always be schools I love to make fun of, based on long ago football rivalries.  No -- I had one major goal as a Dad of 2 daughters -- and I'm pleased to say, mission accomplished.  I demanded they become best friends.

I'm an empiricist, and care deeply about my girls.  I plan to check off this mortal coil long before I do, and wanted to make sure they have go to people, unconditionally.  That would be their sister.

D2's boyfriend Jonathan just celebrated a birthday, and D1 arranged for them to have a great weekend at a club hotel on the Beach.  Then D1 said SHE would be attending lunch both days -- to snare sister time.

As it turned out, Wifey and I were invited along yesterday, and I begged off.  I was way tired from the McCartney concert, and Dadber pick up of D2 at MIA.  Plus, I had committed to attend a birthday brunch for my rabbi friend Yossi, at his shul and community center.  So instead I drove D2 to her optician, and then took her to breakfast.  I then handed her off to Wifey, who drove her to the hotel -- they had a sister AND Mom day together.

I came home from the shul, and took a terrific nap.  I awoke to see a text from Mike -- he was barbecuing some of the prime meat he got from a client, who owned a restaurant on Brickell, but due to untoward circumstances, had to flee to Uruguay.  Mike now has more than a year's supply of beef, as well as cases of Spanish wine.  I went over, and had a great evening, with Mike, Loni, their kids, and old friends Paul and Darriel.  We reminisced about Canes trips we had taken over the years -- including a last minute charter to Dallas to see the Cotton Bowl, on January 1, 1991.

But all day my soul was warmed, thinking about the Ds.  They're very different in personality.  D1 is the consummate bubbly extrovert; D2 is taciturn and likes fewer and fewer people as she meets more and more people.  But their bond is unbreakable.

That makes me one happy Daddy in the USA.