FATHER'S DAY WEEKEND

Life blessed me with a daddy.  There's an old saying, that anyone can be a father, but it takes a special man to be a dad.  Let's add yet another layer to the hierarchy of fatherhood.....daddy.  I remember when I started working for Juvenile Court, one of the officers commented on how I referred to my daddy.  He thought that was so cool.  I remember thinking about what he said......maybe I had something he never had.  And, I did.

My daddy was kind, hard-working and humble, handsome, enjoyed telling jokes, was one helluva baseball player, had a dark complexion and a proud smile that I only saw when he and I ballroom danced together.  When and if I make it to the next realm, he and I are going to sit on our very own cloud and talk.  I have so many unanswered questions.

It feels odd that I am older now than my daddy was when he died.  At age 71, cancer stole him from us in a matter of weeks.  He was my daddy for 34 years.  In the end, I prayed that he could leave and be freed of the suffering.  That was an unbelievably hard thing for me to do.  

What would daddy think of today's world?  He'd shake his head and most likely not say a word.  He wouldn't want any part of the evil that has grown to be tolerable. 

Life today reminds me of 52 Card Pickup.....when a deck of cards is dropped on the floor and there's no rhyme or reason to the way the cards fall.  An ugly shade of rudeness has seeped into every sector of society.  Anger, even rage, spews from one person to another.  Bullying and belittling have become the norm.  Social media provides a free platform for both braggadocio and cruelty.  Everything is someone else's fault.  No one takes responsibility, but would rather point the finger.  The thought of trying to better the world is trumped by actively seeking to damage the world.  No one has enough.  Greed wears many masks.  The thought of give-and-take no longer exists.  Common sense, of which little remains, tells us that if there's a filled candy dish and everyone takes candy from it, and no one adds candy, that there's gonna come the day when the candy dish is empty.  How is that so difficult to understand? Daddy taught me to work hard and to earn my own way.  He taught me, by his silent example, to do my best and to treat others like I want them to treat me.  Oh, he didn't walk around quoting the bible, but he sure did have us at Sunday Mass.  The one thing that'll forever live in my heart is the memory of me sitting next to daddy in the church pew, and when we stood up, we'd rest our hands on top of the pew in front of us.  He'd reach over and wrap his right little finger around my left little finger.  That was an extra part of the liturgical ritual that belonged to the two of us.  I've never felt that feeling anywhere else or with anyone else.

I don't cling to sorrow when I think about him, but I feast on his good qualities.  Our Creator gave him to me, and, for that, I'll always be grateful.