Hi Dad

Finding out you're going to be a parent is one way to force change in your life. For me, the most recent change is reconnecting with my father.

My parents divorced when I was 8, and things were a bit rocky from that point on. My mom did her best to raise my brother and me, but had her own problems. My dad was in his own world, which from what I understand included drugs, booze, and women. We visited him once or twice a week for a couple hours at a shot, but we never really got close.

Once I got married, I drifted even further from my dad, who had in the intervening years stabilized his life quite a bit and married again (they've been married over 20 years now). But we visited yesterday for the first time in several years, and just spent some time reconnecting.

No heavy conversation, nothing big, just catching up on life's little things.

He's going to be a grandfather soon. When I look at how big a part of my life my grandfather was, I can't deny him the chance to do that for my child.

I don't know where this will all go, but for now, it was nice to sit down and chat with my Dad.