KEEP CALM and TELL YA STORY!
I read on history.com that Father's Day was introduced in 1910 but didn't become official until Mother's Day did circa 1972. It's a cool expression, a truly worthy sentiment. And on Father's Day 2013, I did something that was a first. I wished God a happy Father's Day. I figured, when I was runnin' from that knife, my father looked out. When I was in that intersection on two occasions getting hit by cars, my father eased the gas pedal and heightened the driver's awareness. It was the difference between 37 and 15 years on the planet.
Pater is the latin-based Greek word for Father. It has a range of meanings including: someone who originates, ancestor, even someone who serves as a paternal figure...a stand-in...a surrogate. The father piece can be a touchy subject for many of us. Suppose you don't have children of your own like me. Or suppose you didn't have an adequate father figure in your home growing up...like me. It makes days like yesterday not-so-much awkward as much as an adventure in transparency. There are few days like Father's day where such a private reality is exposed, where your designation is so clearly communicated. Father issues present an interesting confrontation on days like we just celebrated.
And it's not, at least for me, a volatile encounter. It's simply an opportunity to talk straight, to be who you are without apology for who you've become. In my case I'm honestly just a guy who doesn't have his own children. It's not a crime committed toward me. It's not technically a defect of personality per se. It just...is. And because IT IS, I'm thrown into two potential realms of conversation. On one hand I wasn't raised by my biological father. On the other hand, I'm 37 years-old and not a father myself. Both scenarios, while not as uncommon as one might think, evoke pity. I'm not sure why.
When I graduated from Chapman University in 1997, a family very close to me gifted me with a Pullman luggage saying I would need it. They were right but they may not have known the reasons for my travels. What else?...KIDS! I've been to 5 of the seven continents on behalf of mentoring via basketball. I thought it would be as a player all those years ago but let's not open old wounds LOL. The point is, as ironic as some might have it be, I may not be a father but damn...I sure feel like one. Is that wrong? God has offered me a privilege to be the "other" voice in the lives of literally hundreds of kids worldwide, some of whom will one day do what I'm doing in light of their Father's Day awkwardness. To all my PATER brethren...stay true to the cause.
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