Back from the Emerald City

We're back in Portland after a little more than two days in Seattle. I swear we walked all over downtown Seattle, and if that wasn't enough, we also hiked all over Westfield Shoppingtown Southcenter in Tukwila and then all through Ikea in Renton. I've never been to an Ikea store before. My feet, and my credit card, are killing me.

I bought two things for myself, a new pair of sneakers and one of those LiveStrong/Lance Armstrong cancer support bracelets. Most of the money went to supplement my daughter's wardrobe. It's all stuff she needed, and I was certainly happy and proud to do it. But the best part for me was getting to spend so much time with her. I can't believe she will be 14 here in a couple of weeks. So many special, small moments. I loved it. But the highlight may have been when I learned that she had been telling her friends that her "biological father" was coming to visit. That seems so huge to me, I'm not sure if I can explain why satisfactorily.

I have always been around throughout my daughter's life. I saw her the first time in the hospital the day she was born. But we have never lived under the same roof. Her family has know the whole story from the beginning, as has mine. But she has always known another man as dad. She has only known that I am her biological father for about 4 years now. I've met several of her friends over the years, but I had never know what she had told them about who I am when I came to visit. So, I was thrilled that she now tells, at least her close friends, what relationship we have. That's a big step. But I guess in her life, I'm just another wrinkle. Perhaps it is no harder to explain me than the relationship between her mother and her partner. I'm just one of the many colors of this rainbow family.

I guess Dorothy was right. Visiting the Emerald City is a wonderful experience, but their is no place like home. And home is where the heart -- and the family -- is, no matter how unconventional the family may be. I wouldn't trade my family for the world.

One other note on the day, and it is certainly not the least of things because it has certainly been at the top of my mind today, and that is that a very dear friend went into the hospital this morning for some surgery. I have not yet heard how that has gone, and I suppose I will not rest easy until I do. Sometimes it really sucks to be so far away from those who are important to us. It is an ironic feeling to have that realization now when I am with my daughter, who I ordinarily am so far away from. My thoughts and prayers are with you D.

And so goes life along the Yellow Brick Road.

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