Dad's Day

Father's Day is Sunday. It's undoubtedly the most important "Holiday" on my list of Holidays. I don't put up a tree, or decorate the house and there will likely not be a big special meal planned unless it's the Sorority's chicken dinners after the parade. But goodness what a day to celebrate!!

I'll take time to drive out to the cemetery and visit my dad for a little bit. I'll thank him for what he taught me, through both words and actions but more importantly for making sure that he didn't leave this earth until he knew there was a little part of him inside of me. I didn't know it then, but I see it on a daily basis now. It's that lesson more than any other that I carry with me.

Often times when you see the role of a dad in their kids' lives on TV or commercials, it's about teaching them to fish, work with wood and build things, or changing oil in a car. I can't say I've done much of any of those things with my kids. My fishing experience consists of Red Lobster or Captain D visits, I don't even want to talk about wood-working and if Hasting's ever closes down, I'm screwed.

However, now I get a chance to see my kids as adults and each of them have kids of their own. I know their kids will be raised in a home filled with love, laughter, compassion and community. There's a good chance they'll pay their kids off to get out of the Pinewood Derby contest, and will be borrowing a lot of tools from neighbors and friends. However, they'll also take the time to have nightly dinners together, to enjoy a family Sunday brunch with extended family and will be involved in making their communities a little better.

There's an old saying that being a grand-parent is the reward you earned for being a parent and putting up with your own kids. There may be a small amount of truth to that, but of all the presents I've received over the years, the one I cherish the most are the hand-prints of my three kids that I got on Father's Day probably 25 years ago. I wear the "badge" of 'DAD" very proudly and am just damn happy it's not something I had to teach my son to make in the workshop! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!