Dads have a unique place in our lives. Father’s Day is this Sunday. With that in mind, I will dedicate this post to all those dads out there with daughters. Some are no longer with us, as is my case, where others are still alive and kicking.
Dads and Their Uniqueness
So let me preface this by saying that, my father and I never saw eye to eye on many things. However, he was my one and only dad. Mine was a character to a certain extent. He held two jobs while I was growing up. He hung wallpaper and drove a taxi cab. The latter provided us with interesting stories of fares he used to pick up. My dad was also a gambler. He liked going to the track and playing cards with his other cab driver buddies.
He loved my mom gregariously in his own way of course. I grew up seeing affection between them and realized dads are different from husbands. You can call that growing up on my part. No, dads are not like moms, nor are they supposed to be. They bring something else to the table. No, my dad wasn’t always there for school events or other things in my life. But he always reminded me of the reasons that I loved him.
Dads and Their Special Talents
My father was a self-taught musician. He had the wonderful talent of playing the piano and violin by ear. He never read notes, just listened to the tone. It always fascinated me how he did it, and why he never pursued it. Dads can be strange creatures. He loved playing for me and even tried to get me started playing the piano, which I loved. I would always ask him why he didn’t do it to make money. His response would be because then it wouldn’t be fun anymore. As I got older I understood what he meant by that.
Dads are also there to protect you when possible. This was evident when I was much older and in an abusive marriage. It was all I could do to keep my father from killing my ex-husband at the time. We had gone through our own differences through time, but his love and devotion came through to me at one of the worse times of my life. I will never forget that.
Dads Can Be Fun to Hang With
I had certain moments with my dad that will always stay special to me. There were many times where he and I would go to baseball games together, just the two of us. We always sat on the third base side, yeah I do remember that as if it was yesterday. If it was a night game, on the way home he would stop at one of the sandwich shops open late, and we would get roast beef sandwiches. Mind you, I was only around 8 or 9 at the time. I said to him one time, what if mom finds out I’m eating this so late. In true dads fashion, his response was, “Well we won’t tell her will we.” That was a bond that nothing could break.
Dads Need to Be There
No relationship is perfect. But there will always be something so special about a father and his little girl. My own daughter has her special bond with her dad. Dads need to be in their children’s lives, in one form or another. Just because some fathers and mothers aren’t together, is no excuse for absent dads. The part that they play in a child’s life, especially girl’s, can be life changing if not monumental. My parents relationship was anything but normal, but one thing I did see was my father’s genuine love for my mother, be it as I stated, in his own way. He showed me both the negative and the positives of how men should treat women. On this Father’s Day I will remember my dad fondly, like I do many other days throughout the year. If you are a daughter of a wonderful dad, love the good memories and learn from the not so good ones. Happy Father’s Day !
