Happy Father’s Day

Posted on June 16, 2012 by lmsinca

Another Father’s Day.  I have a husband and a son who are both fathers and I will be celebrating with both of them tomorrow.  The person missing, and someone I miss every day, is my own father of course.  I’ve been trying to think of the most important lesson I learned from my dad, something I could pass along to the young fathers here.  There are a few of you.

My father and I were estranged for nearly four years from the time I was 20 until I was 24.  He missed the birth of his first grandchild, my college graduation and against the law of averages at the time, me receiving a Masters Degree.  Not to get too sappy but he told me before he died that our time apart was the biggest regret of his life.  What drove us apart is less important than how we repaired our relationship and the deposits he made to my life when I was young.

My sister was a momma’s girl and I was Daddy’s Girl and a tomboy to boot.  My parents never took a vacation without us until we moved out of the house, and most of our vacations were two or three week road trips and camping all across the western United States, Mexico and Canada.  I grew up going to Dodger games and USC football games.  When I was stumped over a math question he guided me through with more patience than I probably deserved.  He taught me to swim when I was four and body surf by the time I was 10 as well as how to survive a rip tide.   It was from him that I learned to love and respect the ocean and the beach.  When I was 13 and wanted to learn to surf, he bought two surf boards, one for him and one for me.  And at 15 we learned to ski together.

From the time I can remember we took walks after dinner and talked.  I learned most of life’s lessons on those evenings.  And so, when it came time to forgive each other and forge a new, adult father/daughter relationship, I was able to look back with love and gratitude to my childhood and remember all the lessons, patience and devotion he’d shown me.

I hope all you fathers and children enjoy your day tomorrow.  I’ll be watching my son and his father interact in their own special way and be missing my own father for the times we spent together as well as the times we were apart.

Happy Father’s Day!

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