Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Freedom to Marry - An old picture of my dad

In honor of Freedom to Marry Week I am following the call from The Other Mother to post something old. Here is the schedule she created: we'll see if I can keep up.

Tuesday, Feb. 10... Something Old
Wednesday, Feb. 11... Something New
Thursday, Feb. 12... Something Borrowed
Friday, Feb. 13... Something Blue
Saturday, Feb. 14... Valentine's Day: Celebrate Love


This is a picture of my dad a long time ago, making it relatively old to me. The significance of the photo is the person in it. He is significant in my life for many reasons but he also played a large role in my freedom to marry. Not only did he actually perform my marriage, but he enabled it (homosexual enabler as hate-spreading Phelps likes to say, loving, intelligent father, as I like to say).

He enabled my freedom to marry by teaching and loving with his heart first, always. He has spent more than half of his life shaping and creating his daughters. He has taught me to be stubborn, to not take any crap and to fight for the kind of change I'd like to see in this world. His kind eyes and gentle gestures have shaped me into a person willing to see the good in people, places and things and to be patient with the tides of change, but not sit back and let the tides change me (too much).

The young boy in the picture above is the person I know as my dad. He has enabled this daughter to seek happiness and to find freedom in marrying the person she loves. The freedom (ability) to be able to marry whomever one wants is important but to find freedom (comfort, happiness) in marrying, while the world is judging so harshly, is a gift I am lucky enough to have received.


Journal of a positive enabler (I hope)

5 comments:

Brenda said...

I love this post. Your dad, my dad now :) is awesome. Thanks for sharing your picture and your thoughts of your dad.

Butch Jamie said...

This is beautiful - I hope you send it to your Dad to read.

Anonymous said...

aww, leah, you made me cry -- seeing david's pic and reading your words. he's a sweet man and you're a sweet daughter. pic was taken on our first long vacation -- with grandma & grandpap stewart -- to lake erie -- for a week! we stayed in one of a group of cabins & played on the swingset in the little front yard.

christina said...

i love this post. so sweet. we need more men like your dad in the world. thanks for sharing.

Amy said...

Oh Leah! This was a beautiful post and so, so true. Your dad is amazing and always has so much to offer. Best of all, he never judges.