Dear IF readers,

It was a wonderful day here at our home for Father’s Day. But not without its wrinkles and hiccups. The day before Papa was to arrive home from a business trip, we shopped for John. We got him the usual stuff: travel size stuff for his bath kit for trips, games to play with the boys, a book to engage him, etc. But I slipped in a special gift from me, wifey.

I found a teddy bear that read “I love Hilton Head”. As father and husband to our brood, John made a very unselfish decision. After having the children and living in NYC, we both became apprehensive about safety and life quality after 9/11. As a mother, I was tired of the worry and felt it taxing in an already demanding environment such as Manhattan. There was an opportunity to take the children to Hilton Head Island for a primary, winter home and keep NYC for later. So we sublet NYC to a very nice family that were firmly planted in Manhattan and pulled up roots for our journey south. This was no easy thing for my husband John, a native New Yorker from Albany whose career and destiny had pointed to the Big Apple his whole life. But he felt great salve in the fifteen years spent there, the job achievements and the lifetime experience, and balanced that against his wants for his children. I wanted the teddy bear to remind him that the great generosity of his heart to move for the boys and I would always be around the house written on this little bear’s tummy. I will never forget this act of John’s as a father, it was no less than heroic.

The wrinkles and hiccups came in the form of travel delays and thunderstorms. John was attending his niece’s graduation in L.I. on Saturday after a week of work in NYC. The flight in on Sunday to us and his Father’s Day was delayed and John called from the runway. We had scheduled to boat and tube with another family to enjoy the Dads and we promised to circle the boat close to the dock to pick him up on his late arrival.

And then the storm broke out just as Papa arrived. The tube never made it from its secure place and we spend the next hour in a sheltered boat house awaiting the end of the storm. The end never came. We moved the celebration inside where the women chatted, the children played and the men watched golf. Ahhh……well made plans. But we did hug and kiss and tell Papa how wonderful he is many times. And he opened his gifts of deodorant and mouth wash with great joy and humility. Papa John, a gift of a father in this house.

Good reading, Cat Wayland

Dear IF readers,

We are featuring Make it Right this June issue for International Family Magazine. Make It Right was started by Brad Pitt, a global dad and his team down in NOLA helping the 9th Ward rebuild after Hurricane Katrina.

Make It Right is a wonderful effort to make sure that things stay in the public eye till the job gets done. Once the press sensation dies down on a tragedy, things lose focus, slow down.

Make It Right is keeping things in the public eye until people are back in their homes safe and sound. My husband and global dad of Jax and Brody, is all about helping New Orleans. John and my love story had many chapters in NOLA and it breaks our heart to not see the city on its feet yet. We have gone back each year for Jazz Fest and have seen the trailers still lurking outside the houses waiting for funding. It is a shame.

I met a woman on the plane going down to NOLA this past May for Jazz Fest. She told me her husband’s mama isn’t even on a list yet. I told her I would write her mother-in-law’s story so we could get her on a list.

You have to leave your house and neighborhood to know what is going on. I am a big support of families, mothers and dads that go beyond their comfort to help another. Thank you global dad Brad Pitt, and Make It Right. IF mag is looking to help, publicize, donate and do whatever it can to make sure all families are safe under a roof, and on a dry floor.

Good reading, and prayers, and help, Cat Wayland