papa

when i first met patrick kelley - dressed in his board shorts, kennett area ymca staff golf shirt & funky glasses - he was surrounded by children.  as the assistant aquatic director at the ymca, pat (or "mr. bubbles" as the kids fondly referred to him) was a beloved swim teacher.  if mr. bubbles was teaching your lesson, it was all business, no excuses and hard work.  but if you did as he said, you not only learned to swim, you were tossed in the air in gleeful celebration of your accomplishment.

pat was and still is a child magnetic.  because of this, i knew pat would be a wonderful dad.  but as i reflect on this, his second father's day, i am in awe of who he is as a dad, a husband, and a friend.  when we moved to memphis he set aside his spreadsheets to be with ewan during the day.  the hope was that the stability of a stay-@-home parent would help to balance out the chaos of having a mama who is a 1st year fellow.  i cannot imagine this year any other way.  i think the only downside to the arrangement has been my own jealousy of the wonderful adventures ewan & pat have with each other daily.

the cornerstone to pat's parenting is patience!  it is truly remarkable.  whether home alone with the bug for 12 hours or 30 hours he approaches each interaction with ewan as if it is their first of the day - with a fresh enthusiasm.  he is a papa who tickles & plays chase, who creates elaborate scenarios of imaginary play, who reads & snuggles.  he endures 98 degree temps, because he knows what joy ewan gets from the 5 minute train ride at the zoo.  he cooks & cleans, remodels bathrooms & makes a fine eggplant parmesean.  and somehow at the end of the day, he has the energy to rub my back.  & despite all of that, he thinks he has the best job in the world - being a papa.

and as you can tell by the picture - i think he really enjoys it!

happy father's day, papa pat!
we love you oh so much.

as a quick addendum -
to reinforce the words above, pat kelley had a blow out of a father's day this year. 
pat's head did not hit the pillow until 5am this morning (taking advantage of e-free time to finish home improvement projects for our open house today).  he was woken (by me) just two & a half hours later, so he could take me to work.  why can't i drive myself to work?  well, that is because we only have one car & pat needed it so he could drive ewan & murph dog around memphis for two hours in 98 degree heat during the open house.  i am on call tonight, so this weary papa will not get relief until tomorrow afternoon.  oh yeah & to top it off, e kindly gave him his cold - so they are both achy & snoggly.  think restful thoughts for our papa on this very special father's day!