Instead of calling my Dad to wish him a Happy Father's Day.....I approved the obituary my sister-in-law drafted for the newspaper. Thats just not right.
I kissed my partner Paul, and told him Happy Father's Day. I hugged my daughter - who just lost her Daddy in April - and told her I loved her and somehow we would get through this day with a smile.
My niece doesn't drink coffee...meaning there is NO coffee pot in the house. Paul and I are rabid coffee drinkers....we are awake about 530, we groggily pull on our street clothes, intent on finding that strong, hot elixir of life. We already knew the Chick Fil-A wouldn't be open on Sunday....we tried the huge Target store...thinking we would actually BUY a coffee pot, coffee, and filters.....not open till 8...we will be in withdrawals by then. We head back across the commons, and spy a Panera Bread.....they open at 7am, it is 645am. Paul and I troll the sidewalk in front of Panera like addicts waiting on the methadone clinic to open. No one should have to do all this physical activity without first ingesting caffeine.
Panera finally opens their doors, we shuffle inside and order two large cups, head outside to sit in the sun, gulp our coffee, and burn a tropical tatiana. The life force is slowly returned to my veins. I go back inside to take a dozen bagels and four more large coffees back to my nieces house for breakfast. As we ate our breakfast, we planned the day....thank God Kasey was thinking like a tour guide, I needed someone else to take direction. We decided the girls would ride in the car, and the boys would ride their bikes....far be from me to turn down a ride, but I just needed to rest from two wheels, and I needed to be with my niece and my daughter.
First stop was Buffalo Bill's grave atop Lookout Mountain above Golden Colorado. Wonderful scenery, the air was cool, and we had a pleasant photo session with the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop. Next we headed up to Dinosaur Ridge; about a mile and a half walk up....not challenging, gently elevating...we are treated to prehistoric fossils..dinosaur footprints! I love this stuff.....rocks. From atop Dinosaur Ridge, you can see Red Rocks amphitheater....our next stop. I was here in the early '70's; it is a spectacular outcropping of red rocks, formed millions of years ago, from which an acoustically perfect amphitheater was built. We tour the museum which is a rock n roll history of all of the musicians who have played there.....even the Beatles in 1964. All of this walking has made the group ravenous; we choose a hole-in-the-wall burger joint called Bob's Atomic Burgers in Golden, just across the street from the Coors Brewery. The burgers are to die for.....handmade, juicy, and fresh. I suggest we go around the table (Me, Paul, MacKenzie, Kasey, and Hunter - Kasey's boyfriend) and tell a funny story about our Dads. It relieved the sadness of the day and put a smile on everyone's face....Life is Good.
Exhausted, we return to my nieces to rest, regroup, and begin to organize for the tasks ahead of each one of us. The girls will get to the airport tomorrow, each on a different flight, and family will await their arrival on Monday in Indianapolis. Paul and I will take a straight shot across I-70; arriving sometime late Tuesday providing the weather Gods are with us this time. I dread the coming trip, this kind of riding is a task, a chore, not a pleasure. And I dread the ordeal that awaits in Indiana. If there were a way to avoid it, I would, but duty calls. This is the Dutiful Daughter role I have played before - sometimes really well, sometimes very poorly. I pray for safe travel, I pray for strength and guidance for the task before me.
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