Hey, Mrs. Wilson!

This idea came to me in the shower one morning last week. I write every day about my three family members who live with me, but what about the ones that do not live with me?

So, every couple days I am going to introduce to you a member of my family. I have one dad, one mom, two brothers, one sister, one father-in-law, one mother-in-law, three sisters-in-law, one brother-in-law-to-be, one niece, and one nephew?-to-be.

Don’t worry family, I’ll be nice. Mostly.

I’m starting with my side of the family, since I knew them first. And just to be fair, and just so I don’t start any she-likes-me-best fights, I’ll go oldest to youngest and start with my dad. I like him the best anyway. (Just kidding mom!)

I’m going to try and keep these Odes short and sweet, because if I was going to tell you absolutely every thing I love and admire about each one of my family members, these post would be miles long.

Onwards.

Meet my dad

His name is Bill. He is a mechanic. He loves cars (obviously). He loves books, movies, and artifacts of WWI & WW2. He loves history (specifically family and Dutch history).

My dad loves being a grandpa. A “Pappa” to be exact. Originally, he wanted to be called “Opa”, but Kaylie wanted to call him “Pappa” instead and it stuck.

Although having a 17-year-old pregnant daughter isn’t the ideal situation for any parent, my dad was always supportive of me and would bring home little presents he’d find while doing groceries, like a baby name book and teeny tiny little mittens.

Kaylie’s gotten to be quite close to my parents. We lived with them until she was 4 months old, and then moved in a couple more times between moves and transitions before Noah and I got married. When Kaylie was littler, I think she thought she lived in two houses with all the time that she spent with my parents.

She absolutely loved it though (and I know Pappa and Grannie did too).

My dad walked me down the aisle at my and Noah’s wedding

and then drove us around in a dark blue Chrysler 300 (Noah’s favorite car) that he borrowed from the lot at his work. Like I’ve said before, having a dad who’s a mechanic comes in really handy!

When Liliana was born, my dad became a Pappa to three (soon to be four!) which brought our family total to 11.

Thank you for giving me life, for always being there for me, and for being the best dad I could ever imagine.

I love you Dad!