Happy Father's Day Sean and Dan

I've blogged often about my families experience and sacrifice. You may or may not have read in past posts that my cousin Eddie was killed in action in 2009. He was in the army and a good soldier.

When he died he left a young wife and two very small sons. Our family was deeply affected by the loss. Just a few years later my own husband died. My cousins widow and I became close in this time. We were both young military widows with small kids and no real idea what comes next. Together we leaned on the other for support and encouragement.

In the past few years we have both made great strides in working through our grief and doing our best to rebuild a life for our kids. As you can imagine in a loss such as our the idea that a man would ever be in the picture seemed nearly comical. How could a man fit into this? What sort of a man would WANT to be a part of this?

Somehow, such a strong man came into both our lives. A man that knew he must share his family with the spirit of a father who stood by them before. Not just any man but an American Service Member. Someone who traded their life for their country. That is a huge pill to swallow. The strength it takes to share your entire life and all you hold dear with a memory, a fairy tale at times. That's no easy task. The two men I'm writing about today aren't the heros we lost but the two heros who walked into our lives knowing fully of what was asked of them and despite their own jealousy, pride or fear accepting us as his own and promising to never let our children forget a single memory of the father they lost.  These special men are Dan and Sean. This father's day is just for you.

You accepted our kids as your own, knowing that it would be difficult. You knew of the grief and loss felt here and decided you would share in that pain and do your best despite it all to love and protect us. We speak often of the men we've lost and sometimes you get overlooked but make no mistake, your presence and the gifts you've given us have made all the difference in the world. You picked us. You were able to put normal human emotion aside and ask that we not forget the past but just let you love us as we are. That's the greatest gift we never knew we needed.

Thank you, Sean and Dan for being the kind of men we need in our lives. For honoring their fathers and for accepting our kids as your own. For not trying to replace Mike and Eddie, and loving them too. Not many men could be so strong and we are lucky to have you!

Thank you for being comfortable enough to never let their names die. For adding so much beauty to this life we've been given. I absolutely believe that our husband's and God had a hand in our meeting and I am so grateful for it.

You are both exceptional men and deserve a special thank you for all you do and all you are to our family!

Happy Father's Day Sean and Dan! We love you so much!