Celebrating Fathers Every Day of the Year!
My Dad and I are so similar yet so different. Both stubborn as mules (although I am not sure what his excuse is – I’m the Taurean!) We both LOVE to be right. We both push each other’s buttons within a few minutes of being together in the same room. Oh, how we can wind one another up! If I don’t feign interest in my Dad’s views on world politics, his latest DIY project or the price of fish, boy do I know about it. And if he goes on about aches and pains or stingy politicians one more time he knows I will install a Self-Help library by his bedside… He has the innate ability to zoom in on grey hairs… letting me know about it. And he won’t mince his words if he thinks the batch of cupcakes I’ve lovingly created for the past hour are rubbish. Thanks Dad!
But despite it all we love one another dearly. So this is my tribute to my wonderful Dad who really is Daddy, Daddy Cool. It is a thank you this Father’s Day for the amazing things he has done for me over the years; things which I hope he doesn’t think I have taken for granted. Because I haven’t. I remember them all.
It is also an alarm bell for my husband… who may, or may not wish to read said list and get himself prepared. He has a daughter too!
1) King of Crafts
I definitely didn’t inherit my Dad’s artistic abilities. Dad has fashioned me (and my siblings) fabulous fancy dress costumes over the years winning us school fete competitions. He used to make us traditional wooden jigsaws when we were small children, featuring his own unique drawings of buses, cars, animals and people which he spent hours carving in the shed with his tools. One cold winter’s weekend he took over Mum’s knitting machine and churned us out hats and gloves in every colour and design known to man. He made our pet rabbits THE most amazing hutch… more like something you would find a lion in at the zoo. And he painted me up a vintage American child’s racing car in shiny green and red. I can still smell the varnish all the way back to my Nan’s garden and picture my five year old self at the wheel. Thank you, Dad!
2) Helping me with my maths homework
I have always had a block when it comes to maths… except – funnily enough – when it comes to working out how much money I am owed! My Dad spent hours pouring over my maths books with me as a child, even though all the formulas and ‘workings out’ were completely different to the way he had been taught at school. I swear his extra help was the push I needed to scrape that much coveted ‘C’ in my GCSE exam setting me free from a re-sit and securing my A Level courses at college. Thank you, Dad!
3) Inspired me to travel
From the moment my 11 year old feet touched the ground on our first holiday overseas to Tenerife, I was hooked! It was that holiday that planted a linguistic seed which grew with me all the way to University and beyond. And it was that holiday which started a journey of discovery that has taken me to more continents, countries and islands than I can remember. Thank you, Dad!
4) Putting me through University
A four year course in languages (with a year spent abroad on work placement) isn’t exactly the most economical of things. But my Dad – and my Mum of course, too – funded it all. Dad (and Mum) despaired when I called them from the payphone that first week of the new semester and told them I was ‘coming home’, so much so that he bought me one of the first mobile phones on the market… giving more than a hint as to the era I was a student in! No way was Dad letting me quit and come home… and when I look back at the path my life has taken, I am so glad he didn’t. Thank you, Dad!
5) Picking me up from nightclubs dotted around Somerset at 3am
Come rain or shine, Dad would be there. I would tumble into his ‘taxi’ worst for wear, and he would safely drive me home. Only to go through the whole charade again the following Saturday night of course. Thank you, Dad!
6) Bailing me out
I have lost count of the number of times Dad has helped me with money – of every denomination – over the years when I have been in a spot of trouble. His generosity and love has known no bounds. Thank you, Dad!
7) DIYing my homes
How many houses has my Dad transformed for me from shell to palace? How much money has he saved me in the process? You’d have thought I could have at least picked up some tips from watching him… tiling, sanding, varnishing or grouting perhaps. Alas no. But I could probably reel off the names of the shades of paint if that helps? Thank you, Dad!
8) Helping me move
My Dad has not only lugged and heaved as my worldly possessions have been transported from one town or city to another, he also faced his fear and flown on his own helping me move from France to Germany as a student. And that was one foggy and bumpy landing we had coming into Stuttgart… the Nuns sat the other side of us strumming with their prayer beads didn’t exactly help! Without my Dad I’m not sure how I could have logistically done it. Thank you, Dad!
9) Coming to the rescue
It was my Dad who arrived with a pick-up truck to rescue me from an abusive relationship. He patiently loaded the van, no doubt wondering how the hell I had been so stupid… and why I hadn’t confided in him and Mum. Thank you, Dad! You quite literally saved my life there. And it was my Dad who on countless occasions arrived like a Knight in shining armour whenever and wherever my cars of the past decided to break down. Thank you, Dad!
10) Being a GREAT Gramps
No! I don’t mean that my children have had children yet. I am nowhere near ready to be a Gran… This is a thank you for the way you delight in being Gramps. You love spending time with all of your grandchildren. Each is treated equally both of your time and your money. And that is reflected back in the love that these little people have for you. They look forward to seeing you. They climb all over you. They wrap their arms around you. And even when they push all of the vegetables in the roast dinner you have so tenderly prepared to one side… you still overlook it. Five minutes later and they are tucking into the BIGGEST bowls of ice cream.
Which of course is categorically NOT the best way to please your daughter…
I could go on and on. And on. But I don’t think anybody would reach the end of this blog.
Treasure your fathers. And not just on Father’s Day. Yes, they have their quirks. Yes, they can be bloomin’ annoying. But they are also full of ‘F’s: Fantastic, Fabulous, Fun, Forgiving and Forever loving.
