I would like to start off this particular blog by saying HAPPY FATHERS DAY to EVERY father out there! I happen to have a great Dad who I love VERY much and he is the inspiration behind this particular blog actually...which is Fathers! Are you ready? Let's get started.
When you are a little kid your father seems like this impossibly big and strong guy. He is a giant in your eyes because he is a giant in your heart. But as we get older we lose touch with certain childish things like believing in Santa, the tooth fairy, or the Easter Bunny. But more often than not during this crucial process of growing up we find that we grow apart. The hero version of our Dad's vanish and are replaced with reality. But if we are lucky we still retain enough childhood memories of bedtime stories and scared away monsters that our fathers still hold some mystique in our eyes, and if you are really lucky maybe you can see the reality of who your father is and still call him your hero, like I do. Father's play a very important role in a girl's life. They are the basis for which we grow up assuming all men should be. They are our goggles through which we see the world of men. So we could all only hope to have a good example to guide us through the ups and downs of our future endeavors in that field. Though no father wants his 'little' girl to grow up and be 'taken away' by a guy, who (as we have all been told time and time again) has only one thing on his mind, if he has a mind at all that is, they all wish for happiness for their daughters, knowing that no matter how badly they wish for it time will not stand still and wait for them to play catch up.
Fathers are complex creatures to children. They make perfect sense and no sense at all at the same time. They baffle us...why? Because we aren't fathers. We have no idea what it is like to hold a child that is no bigger than the length of your arm and know with absolute certainty that their future lies in your hands. That you and you alone can be their father and that it is up to you to teach them the ways of the world. Can you imagine the pressure that the job title of father entails? In reality have you ever even thought about it? I'll be the first to admit that I take the people in my life for granted from time to time. I try my hardest not to, but inevitably time passes and I forget and fall into that pattern of neglect once again. But when I'm not taking things for granted, when I truly look at things, I can see everything that this man has done for me in my life and I am honestly grateful. That is the only word that comes close to describing it. I'm grateful.
When I was born I had colic. Colic is a kind of sickness that babies sometimes come down with. I was one such baby, and I was loud. I cried and cried all though the night, the ONLY time I would even contemplate silent, uninterrupted sleep is when my father would come in, take me from my crib and walk around the house with me swaddled in his arms. He likes to joke I was a Daddy's girl from birth, funny thing is he is right. (I feel like this is a good time to cut in and state that I absolutely adore my Mom as well, we are like best friends and she means the world to me, just wanted to clarify that.) Whether it arose from sheer curiosity or perhaps it was my older brothers wish for a younger brother as I child I gravitated toward the more tom-boyish side of life. I wasn't your pink tutu wearing, barbie loving, little kid. I was the one outside playing football and maybe that is why my father was always someone of such keen interest to me, because I fit in more with 'his' world than I did anywhere else.
My father has these incredible stories from growing up with seven brothers and sisters. Crazy stories, funny stories, scary stories, and just plain creepy stories, and I have heard all of them one hundred billion times and I'm sure to hear them one hundred billion more in my lifetime, but funny thing is I don't mind it. It's like watching one of my favorite movies over and over again, sure eventually I've memorized all the lines by heart, but I still enjoy noticing something new with each beginning. I still enjoy imagining my father as this young guy, barely 18 and traveling the United States, carefree and wild, taking risks and living life like there is no tomorrow. I guess its interesting imagining him like that, since he is so 'domesticated' now. He's the guy who goes fishing in the middle of the week. The one who will drop everything to play dominoes with me. The guy who went to watch a chick flick in theaters with me for no reason at all except I wanted him to, even though he hates chick flicks and as soon as it ended rushed me out of the theater because "I don't wanna be seen leaving this movie."
One of my favorite childhood memories of my father is when I was in second grade, it was just a normal week day nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary, except my Dad wanted to make it special to me. He took me out of class early that day and we went to Chuck e Cheese. We played games, ate pizza, and just hung out. I remember this day so distinctly because it was just the two of us. And growing up the youngest of four kids, just the two of us didn't happen very often. But my Dad made it a point to show me that he cared, even if it was only a day at Chuck e Cheese it meant the world to me. Silly as it may sound it's simple things like that that makes him one of my heroes today.
I think I've rambled on enough for one day, so I'll just finish this blog with a poem I wrote for my Dad earlier today, hope everyone enjoys it! Here it is!
What is a Father?
Father
What does that word entail?
Is it simply a creator
The reason by which we are here?
Or is it someone much greater
Meant to guide us through all our years?
The answer to that question is simple
If you know where to look
In this instance into the mind of a child
It spells out the essential ingredients just like a book
A protector to scare all my monsters away
A savior to get me through the dark days
A magician to fix what seems broken beyond repair
A doctor when I get hurt who cares
A comedian to make me laugh and shout
A cleaner to get all my stains out
A master chef to prepare all my meals
A judge when I step foot outside in my heels
An ally against a common enemy
A solider who always protects me
A master storyteller who whisks me away
A fun ride on which I constantly play
So what is a father in the end?
Why he is a hero and a best friend.
Okay so that's my blog for the day! Hope you enjoyed this special 'Father's Day' installment! Do you have a favorite memory with your Dad? A simple gesture that maybe to nobody else would seem extraordinary but to you, it made you so happy? If so I'd love to hear it =) Until I blog again...see ya!
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