Doerr family welcomes addition to annual Father's Day barbecue
For some families, Father's Day is more than a day to spend with just your father. It's a day spent with the whole family.
"We go over to my parents' house and have a barbecue outside," Aaron Doerr of Butler Township said. "So it's a big family thing."
This year, the Doerr family has one more to add to the already 14-person barbecue, Lilly Carrine.
Lilly was born May 11 and is Doerr's first child with his wife, Holly, but Holly's daughter, Britney, 11, also is considered Aaron's.
When Aaron went to tell his parents, Jack and Marsha Doerr, the good news that a baby was coming, his mother already suspected what it might be.
"We went over there and said 'We have something to tell you,' and my Mom was like 'You're having a baby,'" Aaron said.
He is used to being surrounded by women because he grew up with two older sisters, Audra and Allison.
When Aaron was younger, his older sisters would plan weddings for him and a neighbor girl his age.
Audra now has two children, and Allison has three. Aaron was able to learn by watching his older sisters raise their children.
"I think they put their family first," Aaron said. "Hopefully, I'm going to be the same way."
He was nervous like most fathers-to-be about the health of the baby and how everything would go.
"You think about the changes and everything you're going to have to make," Aaron said.
When Holly got the flu last week, Aaron had to get into new daddy mode faster than they had originally planned.
"As soon as he got home from work, I pretty much just gave him the baby and went to bed," Holly said. "So he kind of got stuck changing some poopy diapers last week."
Even when the responsibility of a newborn baby takes up a lot of his time, Aaron knows his family will be there for him.
"You don't always get to spend as much time with family as you want," he said.
Aaron remembered going fishing at Oneida Valley Dam and playing catch with his father when he was younger.
But the memories cannot compare to the family's annual Father's Day barbecue. It is a chance for them to get together, have great food and remain close as a family.
"I hope I raise my daughters like my parents raised me," he said.
