Sometimes the very best laid plans go awry, and there's nothing you can do about it. That's how this Father's Day went. We had a big Icelandic themed bash planned, with the whole family including my uncle Steve whom most of us hadn't seen in over 10 years. Sounds fun right?
It didn't go exactly as planned. Here are some memories of that day...
Thor and Svana (Granpda & Grandma)
Cooking Icelandic fish...um, cod is fishy. Even the expensive, wild caught kind from Whole Foods. The cauliflower dish was okay. The dessert was good. I was too tired from cooking to take any pictures. Overall, I'd keep trying Icelandic recipes until I discover a real gem.
Observing which Icelandic name people chose for themselves for the day. My grandpa was Thor!
Hailey was Helga. Then she wanted to make her own name tag. So then she was Lisa. Then she was Maybell. She walked around wearing three name tags, despite my protests that those were not Icelandic names. I called her Helga all day.
Talking to my grandpa about Iceland and where our family lived. And his hopes and dreams of maybe visiting one day. And if he can't, then we need to go. I will Grandpa. One day, we'll go!
My mom's recorded Father's Day card. She learned how to say "Happy Father's Day Dad, I love you!" in Icelandic. She was so proud of herself (speaking Icelandic is hard!). But it's captured forever in a card and it's really cool to hear. My grandpa was really touched. It was a very cool moment for them.
Sadly, my dad and brother and uncle all spent Father's Day tubing down the river. They lost their car keys and spent almost all evening searching for them, then calling AAA, waiting, etc. In the end, my uncle barely made it back in time to grab his bags and dash off to the airport. It was quite the disappointment since we had envisioned the entire family together that day...
But, my mom and I realized afterward that Grandpa spent his day surrounded by all of us girls. So maybe he enjoyed that. :-) And we did have a lot of fun. Hailey, I mean Helga, and I went swimming while mom, Grandma and Grandpa relaxed in lounge chairs nearby. And watched and laughed as poor Aunt Tara was splashed and forced to play lots of games that required flinging Hailey around quite a bit. Have I mentioned that Hailey is almost as tall as me now? Yeah, my arms were pretty sore the next day!
I regret that I didn't get to spend hardly any time with my own dad on Father's Day, but I was very blessed to have so much quality time with my awesome Grandpa. It never really hit us how deeply his emotional connection to Iceland is until that day. I am so glad to know this now! More than anything, I want to see my grandpa visit the land that means so much to him.
I hope all you dads had a terrific Father's Day too!
1 comment:
Very cool. I like the idea of having a theme for Father's Day. You know, it could be God knew your grandfather needed to be with just you and helped arrange the situation. Just a thought!
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