As much as I’m not a fan of commercialized holidays, I appreciate the sentiment behind them. Father’s Day is no different.
I was lucky enough to have grown up in a typically middle class home, with parents who loved each other and us, and little else to worry about beyond what the neighborhood kids would be playing on the street the next time I went out.
I was also lucky enough to have married way beyond my station in life, and to have earned my own parenting chops by watching and learning from my wife. I also had a father-in-law who was the world to our children. And to this day they continue to share stories of their Zaida, and how he indelibly imprinted himself on them.
And earlier this month we watched our own son and daughter-in-law welcome the newest member of the family into the world, and they are already shining as they take what they’ve learned and make it their own. Lilly is a lucky little girl indeed.
All of this will matter tomorrow, too, but it’s never a bad thing to have a reminder on the calendar, a day for us to reflect on all the father figures - official and not - who have shaped us in ways words can barely describe. And to remember the ones who helped us along, even if they’re no longer here.
Fatherhood, motherhood, parenthood…they’re all really variations of community, and we’re all products of the time and energy and love that others have invested in us. As I watch our smart, kind, creative kids figure out their own way in life, I realize how lucky I am.
I’m thankful to have been surrounded by so many strong examples of fatherhood, and I’m just as thankful to see the journey continue from one generation to the next.
I’m thankful to have been given the chance to be a part of that journey, and I consider it the privilege of a lifetime.
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