Our Number One Goal

 Since November of 1988, when D1 was born, the main focus of Wifey and my life has been our role as parents.We absolutely savored and adored D1's baby and toddlerhood, and she was uncommonly easy to raise. She was chill, and would sit for long periods watching "The Little Mermaid" and other videos, emerging from those sessions singing the songs adorably.

In February of '92 D2 joined the band, and we adored her wildly, too, though Wifey recalls her toddlerhood as "a hardship." Indeed D2 was tougher -- prone to tantrums mostly out of frustration because she wasn't an early talker, and couldn't communicate her desires, but she caught up. In grade school she was one of the very few to get a perfect 5 on the Florida Writes exam. D1, one of the smartest in the school, got a 4.

The Ds were, and are, very different. But Wifey and I had one supreme goal for them: they WOULD become and remain forever best friends -- there for each other no matter what. Much about what we expected of them was negotiable -- this was NOT.

They could squabble, of course, and did, and hurt each other's feelings, as they do, but there needed to remain an underlying foundation of love and respect for each other. 

Thankfully, mission accomplished.

It's funny -- both married wonderful men who are Latin Jews -- one from Colombia, and one from Venezuela. Joey and Jonathan are also very different kinds of men, but their values are the same: family is sacred. 

I joke that raising girls in Miami held the occupational hazard that they'd marry Spanish speaking men. Among my manifold blessings, this hazard has been one of my highest.

And yesterday, something happened that made me so happy. D2 and Jonathan are on their long delayed honeymoon -- enjoying the second Mediterranean resort, in Santorini. D1 is a bit busy lately -- dealing with a VERY energetic toddler -- more like his tia was as a toddler than D1 was -- as well as a newborn. Still, D1 took the time to order cocktails and dessert for her sister and brother in law.

D2 and Jonathan sent us a gorgeous photo of them enjoying these seaside. It warmed me.

Well -- the honeymooners are flying home from Athens as I write. I look most forward to hearing about their trip, and returning the enormous puppy Betsy to them tomorrow. She's a sweet huge dog, but a bit too energetic for Wifey and I to keep -- needing a lot more exercise than we 60 somethings wish to provide, at this stage of our lives.

But we would never refuse to dog sit -- that's how my family rolls.

Later today Wifey and I are headed to D1 and Joey's, to hang with the amazing grandsons.

And I will praise D1 for what she did. She'll say no big deal -- and I paid for it with my AMEX, anyway. But still -- it's a signal that Wifey and my goal has been realized.

And that makes me one lucky, rocking Daddy in the USA.