Fathers

This is the beginning of Father's Day weekend and I have many pleasant memories of my dad.  Since losing my brother,  I have wished he  could have shared those happy times.
I am happy my niece became acquainted with her dad, my brother, and they had a lot of good times before he passed.

Happy Father's Day to all dads here.

My dad will be 89 on Sunday.

That is wonderful, Shelagh.  Is he in good health?

Not brilliant, but he still enjoys life. He smoked for forty-odd years and his lungs are shot, but he does as much as he can for himself and tries to keep active despite soon becoming out of breath. Considering that he was only eight when his mother died and fourteen when his father died, he has done remarkably well!

The heroine of my novel, Ghost Orchid, spends her life hungering for a father she has never known.  The fantasy father overshadows all her achievements, the hunger for that part of her roots.  Ghost Orchid has been reviewed as many things, but it is, in fact, a testament to the power of fathers in the lives of their children, absent or present.

My two favorite fathers:

My dad:



My son:

It is not fathers Day in Australia. Yet, my two fathers are very different and special. Like going to Gallipoli, the film and then the Pancake Parlour or seeing that one escapes injury on my skateboard to hear him speak at school, perhaps disguised as a teacher or writer.

alj wrote:

My two favorite fathers:

I can see the invisible third.  

*

Dear Diane,
I sit here not knowing what to write.
Love,
Betty

Many psychologists have said that the holidays are difficult times for a lot people for just such reasons. We have so many expectations tht the reality doesn't ever quite measure up. Special days like Mother's Day and Father's Day can have the same effect. Mother's Day is often like that for me.

Parents are often mother and father to their children.  It is a large boot to fill, but people do it well.  I wish all the mothers who are fathers and all the fathers who are mothers the best.  I doubt that I said that well.

As a mother who fathered, I think you said it quite well.

Ann, You should be honored on Father's Day too.

Heartbreaker wrote:

It is not fathers Day in Australia. Yet, my two fathers are very different and special. Like going to Gallipoli, the film and then the Pancake Parlour or seeing that one escapes injury on my skateboard to hear him speak at school, perhaps disguised as a teacher or writer.

Welcome to the board, Heartbreaker, I see this is your first post and we will look forward to getting to know you.

Father's Day is past now, but I've been reading my cousins' comments on FB, to my sharing of the same photo as above and I remembered a bit that I may have posted here before, but if so, it was a while ago and bears repeating.

We were driving from Orange to Kerrville, taking my older brother back to school at Schreiner in Kerrville, about 100 miles west of San Antonio.  We had been driving through Houston (this was pre-I-10) when my dad said, "Start watching for the signs to highway 290."  My mom looked up sharply and said, "What do you mean, the highway to 90? We are already on 90."  The crinkles around my dad's eyes grew deeper.  "That's right," he said. "We are on highway 90 to 290."  My mom looked puzzled.  My bro picked up on what was going on and added, "And when you guys head back home, you will take 290 to 90."  My mom looked even more puzzled and finally just said, "Oh, he**, Clarence."

She said that a lot.

Your dad was a hoot.  Glad for you.