Dad's Can Be Amazing!
I chose my title carefully because some men who father a child (children) ... just shouldn't (thus, the "can be"). Leaving all that mess aside though - this IS a day we set aside to honor those who do the right thing ... who step up and earn the title dad.
"My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it. I never did like to work, and I don't deny it. I'd rather read, tell stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh - anything but work” ... Abraham Lincoln
Man, does that ever apply to me.
Meet A.E.W. "Andrew" "Andy" "Daddy"
MY DAD
He tired of this earth last summer - almost eleven months ago - and moved on to bigger and better things. For the past nine years or so, we had been rather estranged from one another ... but I will ALWAYS hold him in high regard and will ALWAYS miss him. He was a very fine and good man who ~ mostly ~ did all the right things for his family.
Happy Father's Day to all my blogging friends who have earned the title "dad" ...
"My father taught me to work; he did not teach me to love it. I never did like to work, and I don't deny it. I'd rather read, tell stories, crack jokes, talk, laugh - anything but work” ... Abraham Lincoln
Man, does that ever apply to me.
"I grew up to have my father's looks - my fathers speech patterns - my father's posture - my father's walk - my father's opinions and my mother's contempt for my father"... Jules Feiffer
That one doesn't apply to me, but I thought it was quite comical!
"Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope"... Bill Cosby
posted by Weary Hag at 10:18 AM
12 Comments:
That was a sweet post. :)
I just got off the phone with my dad. Nowadays he's basically what I fondly refer to as a "grumpy 'ol man".
But he was a good dad when I was growing up. I'm sure some of his tall tales inspired of what I've become today.
And his opinion that "gardening builds character" has certainly come true for me, though I ironically hated my garden chores at the time.
I have found that fathers can be hard to understand mainly because they are to busy trying to keep their families taken care of by what ever means they can.
My father worked hard all his life and kept us supplied with what we needed, no frills just what we needed and he still does, in his way.
Great post as always
My dad was grumpy, opinionated and judgemental in the extreme, and for most of my life I was slightly at odds with him. But for my friends, or most of them anyway, he was a great character, a man of humour, considered to be a 'bit of a larf'. This view of him puzzled me for most of my life until his latter years when he became ill and immobile and I, thankfully matured, and so could see him through different eyes. My friends were right. He was a curmudgeon with style, dressing his cynicism with a dry wit. I like to think I have a touch of the 'old block'. I miss him.
Don
It sounds like you had a day of thoughtful rememberance - good for you. Happy Father's Day.
I believe that most children do not get to understand their father until they have raised children themselves. Then the wisdom or weakness of their fathers shine through. I had to learn about fatherhood for myself, as my father died at an early age. I raised six children. I think of them as experiments in child rearing. I got better as time went bye, at least that's what the youngsters says. Now I'm perfect...what a blessing for the Grandchildren...Just spent a lovely day with both kids and grandkids.
I love how you chose to remember today - your choice of words in the title is brilliant.
Please accept my apology for the belated response to your post re.
"embiggen" on my blog. Alas, I cannot take credit for it. As an inveterate fan of The Simpsons, I appropriated the word into my own vocabulary after hearing it on a long-ago episode. Like so many other words from this series, it stuck with me and seems to pop up here and there in everyday speech.
I'm so glad you liked it, and hope you'll pop by for more fun with words. As a journalist, it's something I relish each and every day.
A handsome photo of your dad, Carol. Too bad you were estranged.
I see Carmi cleared up the "embiggen for you". I thought he had coined it
There's just something about fathers. His job is to teach students who know he knows nothing and resent him for forcing them to listen. And we can't thank him enough for it.
Good work. This is a tough time for me as well, since I lost my Dad also. We were not estranged but just didn't get to spend much time together.
My dad died nine years ago. My sons lost their dad to cancer last year. This Father's Day has been bitter sweet.. a time of coming together and remembering.
Next year when Father's Day rolls around, my two sons will both be new fathers. There will be one big party. :-)
I love the photo of your dad.. he looks so young in it. I treasure the ones of my dad when he was young. They provide small snippets into the man he was before he became my father.
I'm happy that you feel as you do about your father. Good memories of our family, and especially of our parents, are very precious indeed.
This was a nice post. My father has been dead for many years now but I had fun hanging out with two of my half brothers a few weeks ago, catching up and sharing some stories about Dad.
He was an okay father but a great guy and so it's easier for me to remember him that way. You are right, definitely, some dads are awesome.
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