Recently we had the second father’s day without Ricardo’s physical presence and, for the first time, I suggested Ian to make a card for Nick. We also went out to buy a couple of gifts for Nick, biking around town and shovelling the gifts inside a diminutive backpack! We did all this in a complete silence and surprised Nick on Sunday morning.
I am absolutely sure that Ricardo was behind me, inspiring me to suggest such a thing. I was by no means suggesting Ian to trade dads and my suggestion was very well received. It made sense to Ian to give a dad something on father’s day, even if this dad was not his dad… 🙂 And then I realized how well we said our good-byes and how well we let our grief be part of our lives.
We are not looking for a substitute. Ian doesn’t need one – he has a dad and he is happy with the dad he has/had. But he is also happy with Nick’s presence in his life. Well, he is extremely happy with Alex’s presence in his life! Alex is Nick’s youngest son and one of Ian’s best friends.
From my privileged point of view, I keep seeing a friendship being developed between Nick and Ian and I think those two are up for a meaningful and long relationship. As my grandma would say, Insha’Allah!