A Look Back…and Forward… at Father’s Day
In case you’re living under a rock, don’t have a calendar or are immune to all things Hallmark, today is Father’s Day. Since 1993 when I lost my dear father, I have really disliked this holiday. He died in April of that year, and the pain was still so fresh in June that I could not even enter a drug store the whole month, because everywhere you looked there were greeting card displays and signs touting Dad’s special day. That pain of that loss never really goes away, but time does ease it and now I can walk the aisles of my local CVS without crying (at least this month).
Today when I woke Mike LaMonica’s blog was waiting for me. Now, there’s a great dad. So are many of my other friends: Dave Nicholas, Patrick Barbanes, Kevin Boyd, Matt Horbund . My brother-in-law Michael Haber, my neighbor David Azzolina. Way too many to list here.
But as I read Mike’s take on Father’s Day it occurred to me that I should celebrate the day too. Rejoice in the fact that my father’s love is still with me, that the valuable lessons he taught me and the precious gifts he gave me can never be taken away. And you should celebrate too. If you are lucky enough to have a father who is alive, spend time with him today. Do something to let him know how much he means to you.
Thinking back on it, everything my father always told me, warned me about, predicted really did come true. It’s like that old joke that goes something like: when I was 20 I couldn’t believe how uninformed my father was. By the time I reached 30, it was amazing how much he had learned.
Always ahead of his time, my father would have loved Social Media, so blogging about him is the best tribute I can think of. Heck, it’s only taken17 years for me to come to this conclusion and get around to this post. Whatever your situation, don’t wait. Father does know best, and he wouldn’t want you to delay.
Dad hanging out circa 1990