Happy Dad’s Day

Here’s to the most under-appreciated man in the whole world: Dear ol’ dad.

My own dad got some bad news on the health front Friday. He and mom went to have their eyes re-examined for the first time in several years, and both found out they had cataracts. But dad also has another problem – a retinal problem related to the diabetes he has been fighting for years. He is going to have to have the damage ‘repaired’ via eye surgery … or else there’s a strong chance that he will slowly go blind.

It was and is obviously very scary news, and one more reminder to him that he is getting older, and can’t do some of the things he used to do. He took the news better than many would have, but it’s still affected his mood this Father’s Day weekend. I’ve spent most of the weekend with both him and mom, going around shopping, primarily for curtains and a rod for my downstairs livingroom double window where my dad is going to be installing blinds in the place of the Roman shades that are there right now sometime this week. He had planned on installing the blinds yesterday but with the news we decided to delay things for a few days.

Later today after lunch my sisters and bros in law will be over to celebrate Father’s Day. Dad just got done picking some squash and cucumbers from his little garden to give to them when they come over. He loves that garden, not just because he’s growing his own veggies for him and mom to consume but because he also enjoys giving away some of the ‘fruits’ of his labor in the garden to the rest of his family. It is his way of continuing to provide, even though all of us have our own homes and our own lives and are providing for ourselves.

No matter what curveballs they face as they get older, the need and desire to provide for ones family in many different ways never leaves the heart of the father and husband, even long after all the little birds have flown from the nest. It’s one of the many characteristics of fathers that we all appreciate.

I know I certainly appreciate it in mine. It’s an appreciation I try to show in little ways every day, but especially on his special day.

Happy Father’s Day, dad.

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