I just knew that I was going to puke! I was sitting in our truck waiting for Terry to open my door so that I could enter a new chapter in the novel of my life. I was getting ready to meet my dad, Jim. Who would have thought, I mean, have you read the past few entries in my blog? This was a lost cause... The fire was out, the trail was cold....all hope was gone. And then GOD enters from stage right. All the sudden here I am getting ready to meet him. I mean, really meet him. I have to stop thinking about this or I really am going to puke! We walk into the restaurant, he is already there waiting on us. Will I know which older man he is, will I be able to pick him out of the crowd?....Do I see him? Yes, there in the back. I picked him out (that was weird) I knew it was him immediately! He looked nice and....he had a HUGE smile on his face....ok stay calm...WOW, he is really tall...oh crap I think that he is going to hug me...ok, I have let go and he is still hugging me. This is weird, but somehow comfortable and I think ...well, let's not go there yet. Jim immediately started talking about his trip down and there was no pause in the conversation after that. It was great. We talked about his life, all that he has done, the jobs that he has had, his wife, the traveling they have done, and on and on and on. He wanted to know all about the kids and why I stayed at home with them. He was interested in finding things that we had in common. I could not stop staring at him (I am sure that he thought that I was a freak) but every time I looked at him I saw some other way that I looked like him or talked like him. He told me all about his family and what it was like for him growing up. Before I knew it lunch was over and we weren't done talking. Thankfully Terry suggested walking over to Starbucks...Jim quickly agreed and we were off. We sat outside at Starbucks and talked for another two hours and as it quickly became time for us to go, I am not sure that either one of us wanted to part ways. Jim asked for my address and I wanted his too, but forgot to ask for it in all the excitement. We exchanged all our important info and hugged while we said good bye. Through misty eyes and a quick laugh, Jim (my dad:o) suggested that he did not want it to be as long before we saw each other again. I laughed, but only to hide the fact that I was getting emotional. I needed to get out of there quick. But, Jim would not have it. He had to hug me another two or three times, and then finally released me to say goodbye. It was hard for both of us, but we got in our separate trucks. As he pulled out, he waved and honked the horn for the final farewell and then, he was gone. I could still smell him on my shirt and it made me miss him already. All I could think about was one thing that he had told me. He came down here just to see me. I loved my lunch with Jim....with my dad.ok, so it wasn't the hamburger and sweet tea that I was expecting...instead it was a crab cake with ice water that sat long enough to make a ring of condensation on the tablecloth.
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