happy father’s day, weekend!!!
we are planning to play in the sun…
swim, bbq, go to a movie, or two. relax. maybe even nap!
what are your plans???

my dad and i, circa 1980.

fyi…i am named after both of my grandmothers.

Mary Jane Thaanum was my mom’s mom.
Francis Maree Beckner is my dad’s mom.

my name is Jane Francis Beckner Rhodes.

my parents both wanted their mother’s names to be my first name. the argument went unsettled. because my mom filled out the paperwork in the hospital, she named me,

jane francis.

because my dad was not pleased with this, he and his family {the Beckner’s} forever called me franny.

my mom, and all the Thaanum relatives called me jane.

my parents divorced when i was two months old, and i spent most my life with my mom. i went by jane in school, church, with friends, etc.

but, because of my dad, franny is a name that i hold very dear to my heart.

my dad passed away when i was twenty-five years old.

days like today, father’s day, my heart aches for my dad…

the franny-side-of-me wants my dad to walk in the front door, and celebrate all weekend with us. i want to see my kids snuggled on his lap while he watches sports all sunday. i want to hear him cussing at the tv when the news is on. i don’t think these kind of aches ever go away…

i give my love, and gratitude to all the wonderful father’s in the world, and to those who have already passed on…

and, to the father of my children…our big papi.
*****
i quietly snapped this picture on my iphone a couple weeks back…

it was a typical weekend morning in our home. we were lounging to the finest degree. i walked in the room to see kj snuggled up around his big papi with his arm around him. {not to mention i love their cute shirtless backs. especially that strong one on the left!}

this is a very typical scene, but at this particular moment, i was stopped in my tracks. stopped by the amazing man i get to call husband. the amazing man my children get to call daddy.

i think dusty & kj were on the computer checking out cool baseball stuff…

the scene melted my heart with love.

i love that you see the ‘sorry’ game set-up on the table, too. big papi is so so so good at constantly playing games with our kiddo’s. not just once-in-a-while, but ALL the time. every board game you can imagine, video games, outdoor sports games. dusty has always spent the most genuine time playing with our kids.

i never dreamed my life would be so complete.
happy father’s day, big papi!!!

4 responses to “

  1. I think you liked the Clorox wipes out on the island more… nothing pleases my Janey like a clean kitchen. 🙂

  2. Beautiful post. I too long to see my kids playing with my dad. I know they would've loved him!

  3. beautifully written…

    absolutely the cutest picture with KJ and dusty. i love it!

    we haven't played "sorry" in years! ha

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