An Unexpected Visitor

My relationship with my father has always been either strained or nonexistent.  But then last May, I felt inspiration to just throw all past issues to the side and demand from my father an opportunity to turn over a new leaf and if we both tried hard enough maybe, just maybe, a healthy relationship might just develop.  Well, a few phone calls and texts were exchanged over the course of a few months and then, shockingly, the weekend after Thanksgiving he had arranged for a 2 day visit to see my brother and me here in Alabama.  So my Uncle, whom I hadn't seen since I was in my early teen years, and my dad, whom I hadn't seen in 4 years made the short trek from Texas (he was there visiting family for the Holiday) to Alabama.  The visit went a lot more smooth than I had anticipated.  And because things weren't as awkward as one might think it would be, we all actually had a pretty good, relaxed time.  His time here was short, but we managed to have quite a bit of fun.  We explored the USS Alabama Battleship (he loves that kind of stuff so he was totally in his element), ate at some delicious restaurants, and watched multiple 3D movies at my house.

Again, his time here was short but I know it helped with keeping our goal of moving forward.