My father-in-law made this shelf for my 9yo daughter. Why? Because she asked. She wanted/needed a shelf to put her Equestria Girls High School on with shelves underneath to hold the dolls and ponies and other toys she might want to play with.
She decided how tall and wide she wanted it, helped measure, wrote down all the numbers, and then helped text the information to grandpa.
Grandpa used leftover and reclaimed wood to make this for her:
Look at that. This wasn't some super-fast thrown together shelf. No, he cared about the materials he chose. He used the best parts of the reclaimed wood, stripped it down to the beauty under the old ugly veneer, and put together this incredible piece of furniture for a nine year-old. For her toys.
Because she asked and because he loves her.
Not only was he happy to build it for her, but he took the time to show both her and myself how he was building it, what tools he was using, and how he was putting it all together.
This dad knows how to be a dad. This grandpa knows how to be a grandpa.
When I do wood projects, he shows me how to use the proper tools and lets me have at it. I now know how to use a drill press, select proper routing bits, use a hand router as well as a routing table, use a dremel and its various bits, as well as circular saws, jigsaws, and other machinery that I can't remember the names of. I love it so much that I started receiving power tools for Christmas.
I will never claim to be a master craftsman or carpenter, but I feel comfortable with the big kid toys and have absolute confidence that if I go to him with a question, he will be more than happy to answer it and show me how to do it.
Dad. Father-in-law. Grandpa.
These are things most people take for granted, but it means the world to me that he shows up to my children's weddings, blessings, baptisms, etc. When they tell him they're in a play or have a rugby game, he tries to be there. He's excited for his grandkids' achievements, endeavors, and lives. He's INTERESTED in them.
He doesn't just claim to be interested, he actively cares. For Christmas, he called and asked what the kids might want that he could build, and then had the items built and ready for Christmas. He follows through.
He builds special race cars, vintage cars, and trucks for his grandsons. -- don't get all feminist on me, because I guarantee that if one of his granddaughters wanted a car, he'd build one for them, too.
When my daughter's son was born, he had a handmade vehicle from Great-Grandpa V waiting for him.
He doesn't wait for us to contact him, he asks about things, calls or texts, and remembers birthdays. He initiates contact if we forget or overlook things.
He was there when I miscarried twins, holding me as I sobbed on his shoulder. He then went across the street to his friends who run an alternative funeral home and asked the wife to come over. She took the little 14 week old babies and cremated them, bringing me the ashes in a beautiful little porcelain Angel nick-nack so that I could have closure.
He CARES; he's made me feel like one of his own daughters.
Now, please don't think my mother-in-law isn't active in my kids' lives. She definitely is. Perhaps I take that for granted because I've seen/had that example from my own mother. She cares and loves her grandkids as fiercely as she loves her kids.
But the dad thing-- You have no idea how much that means. I can't explain. Well... I could, but it's not right to put all that out here. Just know that for me, having a dad show up, to be there, to be involved. To WANT to include me and teach me the hands on things, not caring that I'm a girl, well, it's a very big deal to me.
This Grandpa came to my oldest daughter's wedding (the oldest grandchild, just FYI.) He was early and ready for my son's blessing (my ONLY son, so it was a very big deal to me that I'd finally had a boy after five girls.) Ok, so Grandpa V was excited because his only son had finally a son to carry on the name. But still, he was there and he was just as excited and happy as we were.
He was there. He came. And it means the world to me that he's come to everything important to us or to his grandkids - even things that I didn't think were a big deal.
I will forever be grateful that I married into such incredible parents.
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I'm still just a little bit jealous that my dad showed up when my brother was called as a Bishop. And granted, it's the ONLY thing for my brother that he's come to (aside from his wedding,) but still. He actually showed for that.
I probably shouldn't have said that here, but I can't seem to be able to hold that bit in. My son and my girls have a good example of what good granddad's do. Even my step-dad shows for things. For a long time my younger three kids thought my step-dad was my father My 12yo pointed out that he's tall, I'm tall. He has dark hair, I have dark hair. He plays ball with them, interacts with them, comes to their plays and concerts with my mother, and generally enjoys their company. Surely I must have forgotten when my brain chemistry changed, because how could he *not* be my father??
I pulled out family pictures from my youth trying to prove it. Then I brought up that that guy I tell them to call grandpa when we go to that barbecue once a year? That's really, truly, one of their grandpas because he's my father. They didn't believe me. Their older sisters had to confirm it. While my 12 yr old understands that he's my father, she doesn't understand how he's her grandpa.
Funny how that works. It's amazing how kids interpret relationships when people are actually involved in their lives no matter what the distance is.
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