Father's Day

Happy Father's Day (for yesterday) to Craig.

I think he had a good day. He attended, as team captain, a tennis tournament at noon, and he hit against the ball machine for an hour and a half prior to that. Our friends from Florida (they moved out from Colorado a few years ago) were in Denver, and we had vague plans to meet up with them. One of their daughters, a student at Rick Macci Tennis Academy, wanted to hit at altitude again. Craig booked a court for her and Emma to hit yesterday afternoon at our club. We decided to go out somewhere for dinner. At around noon, I thought it might be best to give them the option of eating at our home, where they could stretch out and be more comfortable.

The house was a pigsty. We didn't have enough food for ten people. I hadn't planned a dinner menu. I had four hours to clean the house, buy some food, and make dinner. I immediately went into panic mode (a.k.a. "being a grouch") and started stomping around vacuuming. And then ... the miracle happened. Those children of mine, who were so helpless and so in need of care themselves not so long ago, took over!

Daniel went out to the store and bought all the food we needed. Paige cleaned the house so I could focus on cooking. Daniel, once he'd unpacked the groceries, zipped through the house tidying and organizing. Laura, as soon as she got home from work, joined in. Emma helped tidy up the living room before she and Craig joined our friends at the club for tennis and swimming. By 4 o'clock, when the girls finished up playing tennis, the house was clean and tidy, and we had several vegan and vegetarian (our friends are also vegetarian) dishes ready to go. We had watermelon gazpacho with tofu "feta", two dishes warming in Instant Pots (asparagus risotto and umami-flavored beans), a salad, vegan hot dogs ready for the indoor grill (it was raining), packages of shoestring fries ready to cook in the airfryer, a freshly-baked chocolate cake, and ice cream with various toppings.

When our friends arrived, Paige made margaritas for the adults and played the harp in the background as we had dinner. She showed our friends' kids her newly-acquired geology collection, which intrigued them to no end. S., Craig's friend, is from South Africa, so we watched The Gods Must be Crazy in the movie theater and drank South African wine. It was a very pleasant, relaxed, and comfortable evening.

Having adult children is a new and wonderful paradigm. Daniel decided to clean up our two-acre yard as a Father's Day gift for Craig (he also bought Craig a nice Fitbit). He created a Google spreadsheet of tasks that needed to be accomplished, roped in other family members where possible, and slaved away in the hot sun (last week was brutal) while Craig was out of town to surprise him when he got home.

I am so delighted with my children. They are kind, good people who want to help others. They are capable and competent and lend their energies and talents to making life better. I am constantly surprised and touched to find them supporting Craig and me, when I always thought it was our job to support them. Being the kind of people they have become was the best Father's Day gift they could have given Craig!