I decided to take a look back, on this father's day, at some of the special trips my dad and I have taken together.

My family is so important to me and even when thinking about them my heart is filled with love. I spent most of my time as a kid with my parents and siblings. We ate dinner together as many nights as possible (always on Shabbat), went on bike rides together, swam in the backyard, put on multiple dance performances, and dressed up in costumes (I might need to unearth some of those photos when I get back home). My family is my everything.
I want to take advantage of this father’s day to share about my daddy. And yes, I will always call him my daddy. Ooff, I am crying as I even start to write. It is just feeling so hard to not have been able to go home and visit recently due to Covid-19. Okay… I can do this.
My dad has been a huge support and major influence in my life. His dedication of working hard in a field that he has so much passion for, while also providing for us, was a huge motivation for me to work hard at anything that I enjoyed and wanted to grow my skills in.
While his support has been immeasurable in these areas, it is his appreciation of travel and learning about other cultures, communities, and individuals that has bonded us the most. Since he worked so hard, and our time together was primarily on the weekends, he started taking my siblings and me on one-on-one trips around the country and world as we got older so we could have time together. Our first trip together was to Colorado when I was eight years old. Clearly that left an impact on me, since I now live here!
Our first international trip was when I was in high school and participated in the March of the Living, which was (still is) the collective world trip for Jewish high school students all around the world, going to Poland and Israel together to honor, memorialize, and better understand the Holocaust. My dad being present was invaluable, as this trip was filled with heavy emotions. This was also my first time to Europe or Israel! It is definitely a special experience to have be your first time to Israel. Uniquely, that year, the southern division of our trip have a layover in Hungary. This was really special since some of my ancestors lived there. (Note: As I was going through photos, I chose to leave out the more emotionally triggering images of this trip. I decided this is not the best blog post for those. I may write another one going into more about this trip at another date.)
When I graduated from high school, he arranged for us to go on a Mediterranean Cruise! I was so excited to see parts of the world I never imagined having the opportunity to see. What made this specific trip so important to me was that I was going to have this time with my dad before leaving for college out of state. By the end of this nearly two-week trip, I ended up catching the travel bug. Since then, I have been looking for opportunities to continue seeing the world.
We went international again when I was in college. He had a business trip to Israel and on the way there, we stopped over in England for a week! This was a huge surprise for me. Being in one place for an extended time allowed us to truly see the area. We took tours of various museums and the surrounding towns and saw so many shows. I still remember the impressive and awe inducing performances of Les Miserable and War Horse.
Not always were these moments on big trips. Some of the most special moments took place while we spent times exploring Atlanta, Denver, and Pittsburgh when I was living in these various places for my schooling and training.
These trips have shaped my life and these special moments together will be something that I cherish for the rest of my life. Now that I am married, I am going to have to make and active commitment to make sure I have the time to spend with my daddy.
Happy father’s day to all the daddy’s out there. Thank you for spending time with us, and working hard to make sure we are happy and cared for.
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