Father’s Or Fathers’s Day
A brief thought
Father’s or Fathers’s day 2024. I prefer the latter because it celebrates and recognizes all fathers. As I noted last year, I lost my own three months after that event on the calendar nearly four decades ago yet I still note seeing fathers. I still celebrate both those involved in their kids’s lives and the positive roles they play in their children’s lives.
The world has evolved a great deal since I gave my dad hugs on those special occasions. He was definitely not a demonstrable man until he retired when he became affectionate with my mother. I commented on that once and her answer surprised me. ‘You don’t know how people are when you are not around’. Utterly true but still any public affection in what I had realized in elementary school was a strained marriage surprised me.
He didn’t come from a long line of huggers. My dad was vintage Depression child who truly made quite a life from nothing.
What he learned about fathering, of course, partially came from his own father. But we forget that our own experiences craft our roles in life as well. Actions create consequences. My grandfather’s financial loss of everything at age 57 as the father of a young family coloured money for my dad and for us. We were taught to fear its loss.
We learned the value of his attention in some amazing ways but I am sure that is true for any kids with their dads.
When we were quite young, he took us to the desert outside Phoenix to ‘teach us to drive’. He actually let us steer and I could touch the accelerator so I was technically driving. He was in the car with us (I doubt my brother did much but remember he was there and party to the ‘learning’) and no one else was in the desert back then so it was an incredible lark. Decades later it is one of my fondest memories.
Call up great memories today. Watch others making memories with their kids. Life is short so don’t waste another day.
Thank you for reading actions create consequences. Please feel free to circulate. Thank you to the subscribers.
Be well and be safe. FIN