Peachy Father's Day

Today is better.
Not because much has changed, (except the a/c is working properly now, hopefully for good this time!). But my outlook is better.
That, and I just ate the most amazingly wonderful peach straight from a Georgia farm. Literally juice dripping everywhere. YUM.
So, it's Father's Day. And I'm going to talk about my hubby.
My hubby was a single dad when I met him. That was very appealing to me. His son was 4 at that time, and had always lived with Dysfunctional Dad. His mom took off when he was 6 months old, deciding she didn't want to be tied down any more. So hubby naturally took over and did everything for his son.
DD had lost his firstborn child. He was born prematurely and only lived for a few weeks. It was devastating for DD. Last night we were watching a show on Discovery Health, and the mother made a comment that burying one child had nearly killed her, and she was going to do everything in her power not to bury another child. I looked over at DD and he was just nodding his head.
He was so protective of Spiderman! He developed a paranoia of choking, and any time any of the kids coughed while eating, he freaked.
So, along came me and my three. He went from having one child to the two of us having four kids combined. Craziness! It was challenging in so many ways. I still can't believe he stuck around for all of it. It was a hard time for my kids; their dad and I had been seperated over a year before I met DD, but they were still dealing with everything. Especially T-bone, divorce is rough on a 9 year old boy. And I had a violent, psycho ex to deal with too. I could ramble on, but suffice it to say, DD was amazing to take on all that he did. When I ask him why, he just says because he loves me.
He is a wonderful stepfather. Truly wonderful. He is very thoughtful of the kids, and never complains about anything. Every morning during the school year, he got my girls up, ready, and took one to the bus stop and one to school. I was still at work and by the time I got home, they were safely at school and I could fall into bed. He also takes care of them two nights a week when I go to work at 7pm. He entertains them and then puts them to bed. He's always thinking of fun things to do with them. If I'm tired, he never minds if I take a nap and he has to watch the kids. He doesn't mind our finances being directed completely to the kids when their dad doesn't pay his share of the support.
He sacrifices for my kids. I love him for that.
He goes to all of the kids' events; school stuff, sports, everything.
This is from the Princess's first day of Kindergarten:



I love that pic!

The kids know they can count on him. They know he's going to be there for him.
I love him for that, too.
He chose to take on all of this responsibility. He could've ran away and found someone with no kids, or one kid. But he stuck with me. With US.
I picked a wonderful step-father for my children.
We are all so lucky.


"He Didn't Have To Be" by Brad Paisley
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5fPXCPUNs

Music video of "He Didn't Have To Be" by Brad Paisley (c) BMG Music