My dad was a quiet man, yet friendly and wise. He had to drop out of school in 8th grade to work to help his family. My dad, along with my mom, accomplished a lot in his life, leaving us the beautiful land that we are proud of and where we call home. His dream was to leave each one of his children a ranch.
My dad was the hardest working person I know. One thing I remember is my dad didn't like being late, and stressed that we should be on time. Its something that has become a part of me, and you know if i'm going to be there, it will usually be early. :)
My son posted on facebook today "What's a Father's Day"...of course...i had to comment. My response was something like...Father's day is a day to appreciate all the father figures in his life...even if his father wasn't there. But to take the positive of when his father was around and go forth with the positive and leave the negative in the past. I also said that it is for him and his friends when they are good fathers someday.
I experienced both sides of the coin regarding Father's Day. I was lucky to have the wonderful dad I did and Father's Days were happy for me growing up and they remain happy with the memory I have of my dad. I also experienced, the sadness of Father's Day with my son. His dad was around for a very short period of his life. There are probably very few memories he has of him.
When my son was little, he would ask "Mom, where's my dad?" "Mom, when's my dad coming?" And even though, the words that went thru my mind were not so kind regarding his dad...I would usually say "Ants, your dad has problems or he has a sickness." "But, whether your dad is here or not, you are going to be ok". I also told him that whether or not I was there, he would be ok. I never wanted anyone to treat Anthony with pity because his dad wasn't around, as i thought that he could use it as an excuse in the future, as I had seen so many people who's parents were either dead or not around. I didn't want him to blame his future on something he had no control over. So my words, every time something was not perfect or when he thought he was lacking something, my words were "but you're ok" ......you'll always be ok!
I remember hearing once, on the radio, that kids that come from single parent family homes, were more apt to getting in trouble, dropping out of school, drug and liquor abuse... and i was not going to have this. I've always gone against generalizations or negative beliefs. All I knew that this was not going to happen in my house and i never wanted my son to be told these horrible things. I was going to raise the strongest man possible. What I did was make Anthony responsible for his actions. I know I didn't know everything along the way, its been and is still a learning process. One where we needed to use common sense and I learned a lot from observing other families and how they had raised their sons. It hasn't been easy, but it hasn't been so hard either.
We should all be thankful for our kids' dads, without them we wouldn't have our babies. Be especially thankful to them if they've been there for their kids . If not, be thankful for the father figures in their lives, whether grandpas, uncles, friends, cousins, and step-dads. Happy Father's Day to everyone! Don't take your kids for granted, whether you're mom or dad or both...because before long, you're going to be a lonely old person, wishing you had been a part of their lives. Its never too late to start! Pick up the phone....just do it! I promise you won't regret it :)
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