I was abandoned by my biological father at a very young age. I’m not even sure of the age …. maybe two or three.
My mom and dad divorced. I don’t know all the details and have no memories from this time of my life to even tell you what went down, but, needless to say, my dad bid me adieu very early on.
Thing is I don’t really care about the details between him and my mom. The only thing that mattered to me was that he abandoned me. He left me. I was not important enough for him to make a relationship between the two of us work.
I was totally ok with it as a child because I had all my mom’s attention. It was just the two of us, two peas in a pod. And, she was a great mom! She was the picture of the hard-working single mom, taking care of her child and I never once felt deprived of anything.
But, there was always that lingering question: “Why did my dad give me up?”
And, when I say, “give me up,” I mean literally say “I don’t want to be her daddy.” Let me explain.
You see … my mom met a man, when I was maybe eight or nine years old. It was a love story from the movies. He was her ballroom dancing instructor at the Fred Astaire Dance Studio. Yes. For real. It’s like a Jennifer Lopez movie.
Anyways, long story short, they got married.
And, there was a day where that man signed a paper which was also signed by my biological father. This paper stated that my biological father gave up all rights to being my father and that this new guy would be my father. I was getting a father, one that willingly said, “Yes, I’ll be your daddy.”
Cool, huh?
And, from then on, he has been my father.
I just think this is one of the most amazing acts of love.
By signing this paper, not only did he say he’d be my dad, but I got a new name. He adopted me as his own and changed my last name. 
What a picture of what God the Father also does for us! So many parallels between the two stories!
Most men would be scared off by the responsibility of taking on a new wife and a daughter, but not him. Not only did he adopt me as his own, so did his family. I got a whole new set of grandparents and a load of aunts and uncles. They never excluded me or made me feel like I was anything else but family.
We’ve had our differences just like any father and daughter, but now, as an adult, I see more clearly all he sacrificed for me. I definitely didn’t appreciate him enough.
The coolest part of this is seeing what a great grandpa he is to my daughters. He does just about anything for them. And, they think he’s pretty cool. (and sometimes a push-over)
I know that Father’s Day is over, but I really wanted to give props to this special guy who said long ago that he WANTED to be my daddy.
Happy Father’s Day! Thanks for being my dad!