It's been said by the Best that there is a time and a purpose for everything under Heaven, I believe it with all my heart.
It's also been said that a positive-thinking person will always make Lemonade out of life's Lemons. I tend to think that it's God who makes Lemonade out of the Lemons we give Him.
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It was December 3, 1976; mom met a great guy and they began to date. He was nice to us kids, and I liked him the first time I met him. Things were weird, far as I can remember, since it wasn't that long before this that we were bouncing back and forth; get back together with dad, move out from dad's – as if it were some cruel game.
Something was different with him – settled, relaxed. Mom was happy and so were we. He helped with homework, he brought us food, and he took us to the movies. After awhile, he moved in with us and we were a family.
We moved into a better city, and for a while there was stability – he became my daddy. He slid into that role so naturally, not forced, like on the occasional visit to my father's house where we were forced to call my step-mom, mom.
Then one day, three years later he was gone. Being a kid, I didn't understand; what happened? Only they would know.
The years came and went, and I never saw him again. Life went on and things were out of control for a time. We never stopped talking about Jim, we loved him so, and we always laughed about the time the back seat to his 62' Chevy Impala was stolen. I remember all of us kids piling in the back and sitting on the floorboards…. Though I remembered him, I could not remember what he looked like until I saw the movie Trading Places with Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy.
"That's him, that's Jim – Art, that is Jim, the one we have been telling you about!"
"Dan Akroyd is Jim?" "Don't be dumb, that is what Jim looks like!
From that day on when I thought of Jim I pictured Dan Akroyd – he was my connection to the daddy I once knew; just a memory of three wonderful years when I was a kid.
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Mom never got over Dan Akroyd, she never remarried and always prayed for a second chance to fix what ever it was that happened – and then one day, just two weeks after mom decided she would relent and accept that it wasn't going to happen – she received a letter in the mail. It was from Dan. (I'm referring to him as Dan because it became the gentle joke, a way to lighten the reality of love lost.)
That day came in February 2004. Mom kept it a secret until March and then told us kids about it. After all those years, he was feeling the same way – she was available and they began a courtship that lasted four months – they married in July, and then had a ceremony in August, it was beautiful.
(As to how all this came about, and what went on in between, well some things are better left to the imagination – unless of course, Oprah offers me millions to spill the beans.)
There was one issue I had – he wasn't Dan Akroyd!
What a gift, God certainly made lemonade out of the lemons that grew in those earlier years. Each of them grew as individuals; Jim was blessed with a wonderful son, my new brother, Eddie.
Jim was more than I remembered. He fit right in as naturally as he had so many years ago; but this time it was right, it was God's way, and it is beautiful. The first Thanksgiving we spent together was amazing! We pushed our kitchen table aside and played jacks together, just as we did when we were kids. It was a beautiful day. We talked about old times, but more importantly, about what the future had in store for all of us. We did however; discuss the rooster and chickens they bought for us one Easter…we laughed until we cried.
Today is Friday, June 20, 2009 – tomorrow is Father's Day! What a blessing it is to have a second chance to have him in our lives.
To Daddy Jim I say, thank you for everything you did for us as kids, and for all you do for us now. You are a treasure worth far more than all the money in the world can buy. It's great to hear your contagious laugh again.
To my heavenly Father, thank you for the lemonade.
(I wish I knew how to upload a picture of Dan and Jim - they do resemble eachother.)
© Teresa Ortiz
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