As we celebrate Father's Day this weekend, I have a confession to make.
My father and I did not have the greatest of relationships. It's not like we couldn't stand each other, but it was more like him not knowing how to be a father and me not knowing how to be a son if that makes sense. While he had the greatest of work ethics, helping to build some of the structures in DC that are still standing to this day, we never could quite build the relationship that I would see in other father-son relationships that I yearned for.
But in spite of this, I feel that he still fulfilled his destiny: he gave me a chance at success.
There was always food on the table growing up. I always had clothes on my back. When I got the opportunity to attend one of the top college prep high schools in the city, he paid my tuition. He even did it at a time when we barely said seven words to each other a month. And when I had a chance to attend college, he was there for me also, as well as my family.
But there were also the times when I would be on the athletic field competing and I would look for him in the crowd in the hopes of seeing him just once. I told him of my high schools Father's/Son athletic banquet in which I was to be recognized for earning my first athletic letter. I was the only award winner who father was not there. In fact, the only sports related event me and my father ever attended was when I was eight years old and he took me to a exhibition game between the Red Sox and the Mets. He took me down to the field to get Carl Yastrzemski's autograph before the game. A memory that I will cherish forever.
Now I would like to say the reason for his absence was something noble like it was because he was working his construction job all of the time. Some of the time yes, but not all.
Now why did I bare my soul (including areas that I didn't even know that still hurt while writing this) to you? I guess in part because now there are "books" on how to be a dad. Here are some of the fundamentals. Play catch with your son/daughter. Attend at least one (just one) of their competitions every school year. Tell them that you love them.
Here's wishing you and yours a happy Father's Day. If you can celebrate your father in some way, do it. There may be a time when you can't.
