a couple of last-minute father's day thoughts

Ack.

Here it is, 11:30pm here in the middle of the country. Already after midnight, and therefore Monday, back East. The old man's on vacation in Turkey right now, so I imagine it's well past dawn under that Mediterranean sun. And here I am, still debating the idea of a Father's Day post.

Am I really so presumptuous that I think I can add anything to the blogosphere that has not already been said far more eloquently and by better writers?

Then a few minutes ago I realized it really doesn't matter. That's not why I write this blog. So forgive me if I fail to be witty, pithy, or tear-jerking. We don't really do emotion in my family. It is always something lying subtly behind a glance, a comment, or a certain turn of the shoulders.

So I'll do my best, for each father figure in turn:

To Mike: I know I don't call or write as often as I should, and I really am sorry about that. You came into the lives of an overwhelmed single mother and three rambunctious children, and only now, on the cusp of fatherhood, can I begin to imagine what it must have been like to undertake such a responsibility. You are a truly remarkable man, and I have tried my very hardest to follow your example: kind, though firmly principled; generous, but never swindled; even-keeled, without resorting to stubbornness. I just want you to know what an overwhelmingly positive force you have been for me, and that I will always be thankful that you came into my life.

To Karl: You make my mother happier than I have seen her in a very, very long time, and for that you have my sincerest affection and gratitude. You have shown my siblings and me incredible generosity and wisdom far beyond what we could have expected, and we are very lucky to have you for a stepfather. It fills me with joy to know that my child will have a grandfather like you to visit, to learn from, and to love.

To Dave: I know it must be difficult for your only daughter to have gone and run off with a meathead like me, but I appreciate your not sending Guido and Tony to break my legs. OK, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my meaning. You raised the strangest, most willful, most incredibly wonderful woman I have ever met, and I can't begin to thank you enough for that. You are the father-in-law that men only dream about, and our visits never last long enough or come soon enough. You have been a wonderful mentor, teacher, and friend to me, and I feel incredibly lucky that my child will have you for a grandfather.

And finally to Dad: I have spent a long time trying not to follow in your path, preferring rather to forge my own, for better or worse. But please don't take that as an affront to your character, your choices, or your sacrifices as a father. Put quite simply, you are and have always been my hero. I would be incredibly proud to have in my life a tenth of the joy and meaning that you have in yours. I know I don't say it often enough, but I love you more than you could possibly imagine.

Happy Father's Day.

Comments

[the weirdgirl]

And Happy Father-to-Be to you!

[CroutonBoy]

ZD, I thought that was a great post. It's hard to articulate that type of thing effectively, especially between y-chromosomes.

Happy Father's Day to you!

[Auntie M]

You prefaced this entry that it wouldn't be a tear-jerker...well, I'm in tears, jerk!

[Mama]

Your children will be so lucky to have you as a father! I'll make sure I tell tehm that emphatically if I am lucky enough to hjave them for vacations sometime.

[mama]

Me again. I guess I was so done in by your writing that I managed to post several typos. Eyes unclear!

[zygote daddy]

Jeez Ma, laying on the guilt a little thick, aren't we?

[andrea]

Awwwww.
The Zygote and dw are so lucky.