HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

No matter how you cut it, being a father, or what now constitutes a Father is getting a whole lot fuzzier, and a lot less difficult..

They, my 5 kids, and 5 grand kids call me, Dad, daddy, old man, pa, papa, pop, and even Father, when I am needed most in my role of family patriarch.. Dad, is the rank, position, title, no matter which you choose, they all are music to my ears..

Everything about being a dad has been the only truly redeeming factor of my existence thus far. However, apparently not everyone sees the meaning of being a dad as something to be proud of, or shares my view of it's rewards.

Lets start by saying that the meaning of fatherhood has, can we say, evolved through the generations.. Even the definition of Father has been diluted, reworked, and somewhat sanitized, as you can see below:

Sorry, I'll take the really old fashioned meaning, maybe because I am getting old, or maybe because I really do understand what a Dad really means to a child (of all ages).. A Dad is the foundation rock of the family, the bedrock of the clan structure, the faithfull advisor, the provider, the alternative viewpoint of familial matters, the principal male character in setting the standards of male behaviors, a romantic hero, a guardian of the peace, a role model, a teacher, an understanding mentor, a strong/soft shoulder.. an easy mark.. a softy.. Dad is cool, calm, collected, and always there when you need him.. good for a twenty, or a tear, or a kiss..

Thank you, Carlo! Even though I couldn't log in Sunday I was wondering if there'd be a thread.

Hope everybody a great Father's Day! Mine was a pretty usual Sunday for my neighborhood. After cutting the STEEP 30 foot terrace in my backyard and wrenching my already sore back I decided to sit on the front porch for a few minutes. All the usual suspects were out and about.

The ambitious know-it-all from next door was standing out front spewing his opinions on how things should be ( i.e. mostly rat politics)...there were several arguments over parkling spaces...the thin, tall guy I suspect gets into some wacky weed and his short, weight challanged wife were using a pruning saw and trying to take down several really large limbs on a 50 ft tall oak tree,...the limbs were falling on the cable and telephone lines and he was just yanking at them the result being several more arguments as several houses lost service...a new neighbor - I think she's an exotic dancer - was out in skimpys and at least providing some eye candy...and last but not least another fellow up the street was walking his pet 4 foot long aligator and hitting on the girl I suspect is an exotic dancer.

I kid you not...another Pleasant Valley Sunday.

My youngest son eventually got out os bed (to be fair he'd been up VERY late with me at work the night before) and gave me a really nice t-shirt with several pics of Harleys on it. Then I fired up the gas powered weed wacker that was an advance FD gift. Sadly the carb seems out of adjustment - that's what customer service claims - so I couldn't use it and I ended up back on the front porch just sitting and watching the parade of silly neighbors.

Wife's uncle is in the hospital and she had several errancds so she left pretty early, youngest son was playing at church with my son-in-law, and my oldest son and daughter had to work so pretty much the rest of the day I was on my own.

Sat on the porch or in the garden, listened to Glenn Beck and Shawn Hannity reruns and news on the radio, cracked a few brews, annoyed the neighbors with a few old country western songs on my guitar, made a couple burgers and enjoyed the near 90 degree weather.

All in all it was pretty good Fathers Day for me. Hope everyone else had as good a time as I did.

prisoner6

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.