Hurting and loving

You've read my previous two posts about my Dad, about being in the thick of things and about taking care of the emotionally needy, and you know that Dad can take quite a bit. There have been instances when his patience has worn thin (most of these instances were when I was going from 15 till about 21). However, Dad has the capacity to absorb many of the challenging situations that the three of us (Mum, Sam and I) put him through. They way Mum and Dad brought up my bro and me was for us to think and come to decisions/conclusions on our own, and also to run the family as a democracy - this worked well for everyone concerned, except one person - Dad. The decision-making still rested with him, and the three of us would present him with three differing, yet equally valid and strong arguments. We used to do this quite a bit. Reminiscing now, I can see that Dad was unofficially the punching bag - because he offered himself up for that role. He could take the hurt and the pain, cos he had the love and everything else required to make one heckuva Dad. Really, thank you for taking all those "punches", Dad.