On this Father’s day I want to tell you why I am so proud of Nick as of lately…
As I sit writing this post I can hear Nick reading the “pirate book” to Jonah for about the millionth time, with his awesome pirate voices and all. It is Nick’s job to put Jonah to bed every night, that is their one on one time. Nick is so patient and will read as many books as Jonah wants before bed. I guess I’m mean because I only read one and then toss him in bed!
Since being here in Italy Nick has had to work a lot harder then he did back in Maryland. He works for AFN, which is the Armed Forces Network. AFN provides about 15 channels that are provided for all military overseas to have something to watch that is in English, the government provides everyone with satellites to pick up the channels and everything, it’s nice. There’s a sports channel, a movie channel, a kids channel, a news channel and several others that play a lot of popular TV series too. He is in charge of a show called APS 120 (which stands for all points south 120 seconds…basically a two minute news spot of clips from all over southern Europe bases.) Anyways Nick’s show airs like a commercial on pretty much all the channels, to keep people up to date on this area. He is sometimes assigned to go different places and get footage of different things going on as well. For example, he went to Rome (I tagged along) to film a spiritual retreat for a wounded warriors group.
Want to see some of Nick’s videos? Search for APS 120 on facebook and watch any of the recent videos. It’s pretty fun to see him on TV! People have started recognizing him around base too.
Nick has committed to riding his bike to and from work so that I can have the car and not feel stranded out here where we live (there is nothing out here). Since we have been here I think he has taken the car once or twice and only because he had to. And we’ve had a lot of rain too. He works long hours and then tacks on an extra half hour getting to work, and a half hour getting home, and he never complains.
THEN, to top it all off, when he gets home from work he spends time with Jonah and I until Jonah goes to bed, then he locks himself away to work on his never ending schoolwork. He has committed to finishing his degree in the next few years, it is not the degree that he wanted but it is a stepping stone to other things.
There are so many things that I could go on and on about this man…like how I proud I am of him for everything he did to serve his country during deployment. And as a father, he left this: (on the verge of crawling….)
And came home to this: (walking!!!)
Most fathers get to be there for the first steps, first words, all the little moments. This father didn’t have that privilege. And yet when he got back from deployment, he jumped right back into his fatherly duties without missing a beat.
I am so proud of you Nick. I know that things are not easy for you right now and I appreciate your awesome attitude and how you continue to be a great father and husband regardless of everything else on your plate. HAPPY FATHERS DAY! We love you so much!
