Father's Day

Father's Day has a different meaning in our house this year.
My father deserves more praise for being such a great dad than is possible to express, and again, any attempt at it will not do it justice.
Then there is the remembrance of Penelope's father. This is the first Father's Day where Penelope didn't get to spend time with her father. She hasn't seen her father in 7 months. I didn't even mention to her that it was Father's Day, just like I didn't mention to her when it was Mother's Day. However, this time, she didn't know it was Father's Day until Father's Day. A friend of hers that she only gets to see a few times a year was having a Birthday slumber party on Saturday night. One of the girls brought up the topic of Father's Day gifts and they all shared what they got their father's... except Penelope. She said she didn't know it was Father's Day and she didn't get him anything. She doesn't get to see him anyway. Of course that admittion created a somber tension in the room. One of the little girls asked the mother hosting the party why Penelope doesn't get to see her dad. She told the little girl something about Penelope's dad working a lot driving over the road. But Penelope was sad after that and when Penelope wanting to swing in the backyard and no one wanting to go with her, she took it personally and thought no one liked her. In reality it's been hot and muggy and they wanted to stay in the AC and play. Fortunately, nothing came of it and her friend and the mom were able to get Penelope to understand it wasn't personal, but it was blow to her ego as well as the realization it was Father's Day.
I picked Penelope up around noon and learned of the events that happened. I'm glad she was dealing as well as she was with it. But we talked for a few minutes after we left, her pain still pretty apparent. During our conversation, I asked her why she thought she wasn't allowed to see her dad. She said "because there is something wrong in my head and I'm not strong enough yet." I told her that wasn't exactly the case, and that it's not her fault. I said "There is a lot that you have had to deal with as you have grown up and those things have hurt you. We have to give you heart and head time to heal. You do work hard and you have setbacks. But it's all part of the healing process."
I told her that we were going to do something together but we were going to have lunch with grandma. Grandma wanted to be included so she offered mani/pedis and a haircut. Penelope was all about it. I need them too but Grandma insisted we go to this one place she likes to go to. We were all suppose to sit next to eachother and have them done together. The staff said they'd make it happen. Also, that Penelope had a haircut appointment in 30 minutes. No problem. I knew they were lying. I specifically don't go there because they lie lie lie! lol. I've been a wreck lately and my tolerance was very low to deal with that. So after they took Penelope and my mom back and put them in chairs with 3 filled chairs inbetween and told me I'd have to wait, I told my mom I wasn't going to do it and would wait outside. An hour later, they came with their little flimsy foam flipflops on. Penelope was able to get her haircut still, so that happened. She was loving her day of beauty and that was all that mattered.
They wanted to go somewhere else. I was ready to end the day. My migraine from Thursday was back and my mom's need to throw money at Penelope was getting on my nerves. On the way back to my mom's house, Penelope says "I want to make dinner for Papaw." I said "What a great idea." So I turned the car towards the grocery store. We got steaks, potatoes, corn on the cob and salad. I told Penelope I would do the prep work if she cooked and set the table, with Papaw as her Assistant Cook." I grilled the baked potatoes and corn, made the salad and at the last minute Papaw grilled the steaks. I put the spread out like a buffet and we had a great dinner. Penelope was no help but we gave her ammunity for the day.
I picked on my dad, who was flipping the TV channel from a golf game in NY and a Nascar race in CA. My mom kept asking where they were and then get confused. We would be watching the race and she would say "What part of NY is that?" My dad would put his face in his hands getting frustrated. A little while later the golf game was going to be suspended due to nightfall and I said "But in CA it's not that late yet!" and then start laughing... My dad just looked at me out of the corner of his eye. I said "I'm just playing with you!" It took my mom a second and she said "Oh! For a second there I was wondering the same thing! I fell for it." She, again, forgot the game was in NY. Too funny.