Happy Father's Day!

[Moderator1]

Did I miss the thread on this?

Anyway, Happy Father's Day. My kids are taking me to a ballgame. And here I thought they loved me.

 

[imjustagirl]

Happy Father's Day to you, Moddy, and all the other dads on here. May you have the least stress-filled day possible.

Except for Moddy, who's apparently going to a Nats game.

 

[RedHotChiliPrepper]

Thought I'd share this story abou my dad just because I like sharing it and my dad hates when I tell it. When I was right years old my parents surely didn't have a lot of money and my dad had worked an extra job on weekends to save up and buy me and my sister brand new mountain bikes. At the time I still believed in Santa Claus because I've always had an active imagination and always wanted to believe in things like that. But that was the first year my parents signed all of our gifts from themselves instead of from Santa. So after we ate dinner that day my dad took me up to the cemetary behind our house and showed me how to ride the bike, teaching me to change the gears and not to pull the front brake when flying down a hill. After about 20 minutes I asked him why we didn't get any gifts from Santa that year. Dad look me square in the eye and said, "Come on RHCP, you know there's no Santa Claus." I remember feeling like I got hit like a ton of bricks and dad says he still remember seeing my face go pale. He said the toughest thing about breaking the news to me like that was he knew he was going to have to tell mom what he did and he was going to be in hot water.

But despite that my dad has been the best dad I could ever ask for. He was tough on me growing up and I can't thank him enough for it. I still remember the sound in his voice when I won my APSE last year and found out I got first place. That may have been the best moment of my life because I knew I had made my dad proud of me.

Happy Fathers Day out there to all the dads. I hope someday to join the club.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Maybe I should feel bad for not getting my stepfather a gift, but hopefully things will be OK. Given the circumstances, I probably couldn't begin to repay him, anyway. Except that I'll be gone for a spell in a couple of weeks, so there's a little guilt there. A little.

 

[HejiraHenry]

Wrote this last night on Facebook:

It has been 26 years since my father died. I'm sure some day goes by that I do not think of him, but I suspect that no two days go by that I do not. And I never run into a difficult problem when I don't wish I could call him and ask his advice. In the end, I have to trust that he gave me the right tools for the job, if I'll just use them correctly.

I find that I am struggling in unexpected ways today.

 

[EStreetJoe]

It's been a shared day of celebration in the E household. Not only is it Father's Day, but it's my wife's birthday. So we alternated between opening cards and gifts.

 

[JR]

Wrote this last night on Facebook:

It has been 26 years since my father died. I'm sure some day goes by that I do not think of him, but I suspect that no two days go by that I do not. And I never run into a difficult problem when I don't wish I could call him and ask his advice. In the end, I have to trust that he gave me the right tools for the job, if I'll just use them correctly.

I find that I am struggling in unexpected ways today.

I just posted this on Facebook:

My dad died in 1982 at the age of 67. I was only 33 at the time and a day doesn't go by when I don't think about him. I bet he's having a Molson Stock Ale and watching the US Open right now.

 

[Point of Order]

And I never run into a difficult problem when I don't wish I could call him and ask his advice. In the end, I have to trust that he gave me the right tools for the job, if I'll just use them correctly.[/i]

I find that I am struggling in unexpected ways today.

I feel you on this. My dad is going in for a pretty major surgery tomorrow for an ongoing problem and every time I think about the worst-case scenario I think about this very thing.

 

[murphyc]

This is a first Father's Day for me since my wife and I took in two foster kids in January. Not exactly the most relaxing of days, especially with a crabby 6-year-old daughter. Oh, and spending 90 minutes at Outback Steakhouse due to S-L-O-W service didn't help matters.
Happy Father's Day to all the dads (and granddads and great granddads if applicable) on here.
I know I'm fortunate to still have my dad (not to mention my father-in-law) around. Hejira and JR, my thoughts go out to you and your families.
Moddy, thanks for starting this thread. :)

 

[Moderator1]

Wrote this last night on Facebook:

It has been 26 years since my father died. I'm sure some day goes by that I do not think of him, but I suspect that no two days go by that I do not. And I never run into a difficult problem when I don't wish I could call him and ask his advice. In the end, I have to trust that he gave me the right tools for the job, if I'll just use them correctly.

I find that I am struggling in unexpected ways today.

HH,
I feel you brother, hang in. My dad died 43 years ago, just before I turned 11. I still miss him, still struggle with a lot of things. My kids are old enough to understand and recognize that now. It was harder when they were younger and I had to "tough it out" many years because I didn't want to spoil the day for them.

Despite the Nats continued slide into 2009 territory, I had a blast with them at the game today. We watched, wisecracked, gave each other ****, watched some more, had a great time. Afterward, they took me out for a marvelous dinner.

Then we found out The Queen had been in a car wreck on the way to meet her dad for dinner. She's basically OK - but it took us a while to get information and led to an ugly stretch of anxiety until I could finally speak to someone who was treating her as I was speeding down the highway.

So, yeah, the day has been interesting. Mostly wonderful because I love nothing more than my kids and spending time with them even if we're watching atrocious baseball. A little bittersweet because I miss my dad so much. Scary as all frick-frack for a bit trying to find out what was going on.

 

[sportsguydave]

Wrote this last night on Facebook:

It has been 26 years since my father died. I'm sure some day goes by that I do not think of him, but I suspect that no two days go by that I do not. And I never run into a difficult problem when I don't wish I could call him and ask his advice. In the end, I have to trust that he gave me the right tools for the job, if I'll just use them correctly.

I find that I am struggling in unexpected ways today.

HH: I understand. I've lost my father too, though not quite in the same way. In my case, my father has decided placating his new wife is more important than his four kids and his baker's-dozen grandkids (only three are mine :) ). It was just the final straw in a lifetime of that kind of thing. I'd love to have a relationship with him, but you can only drive the wrong way down a one-way street for so long.

I've channeled my hurt into making sure my relationships with my own kids don't follow that pathway. In that respect, my dad has been a great role model - an example of what NOT to do. I'm a thousand miles from them and not able to see them as much as I'd like, but I hope some day they'll understand.

And Murphy, kudos to you and your wife. I'm an adoptive foster parent, and it's a great feeling. I hope someday my adopted son will say of me, to quote Brad Paisley, "I hope I'm at least half the dad that he didn't have to be."

 

[PaperDoll]

I miss Daddy, Papa and Grandpa. I hope I continue to make them proud.

 

[Dyno]

Moddy - hope the Queen and you are back to normal soon. Glad to hear she was not hurt.

This was the 3rd Fathers Day for me since my dad died. I was mostly OK and I hung out with some friends, but it just feels weird and sad.

 

[Moderator1]

I miss Daddy, Papa and Grandpa. I hope I continue to make them proud.

No doubt you will - you work hard and you are a good person.

Moddy - hope the Queen and you are back to normal soon. Glad to hear she was not hurt.

This was the 3rd Fathers Day for me since my dad died. I was mostly OK and I hung out with some friends, but it just feels weird and sad.

It gets less that way after a while but it never does go totally away. In a way, that's not a bad thing because it means he had such a positive impact on you. Hang in.

 

[dooley_womack1]

Paper Doll: Your avatar is hypnotic.

 

[bagelchick]

My dad died in December so this was my first Father's Day without him.

It was awful....I had no idea how much marketing there is around the day.

I'm just glad it's over.

 

[blacktitleist]

Still struggle with Father's Day now almost six years after mine died.

He never got to meet either of his grandchildren. My oldest was born exactly one month after he died. I still have a hard time wrapping my head around it.

I just keep to myself mainly and watch the Open after celebrating with my little ones. I love being a dad, but I hate I don't get to enjoy time with mine any longer.

 

[Evil ... Thy name is Orville Redenbacher!!]

I had the best Father's Day weekend ever.
My dad drove up Friday to help me put gutter up around the garage. We spent Friday night and Saturday morning together on that project.*
Sunday, the family went to the waterpark where I spent several hours with my oldest son going down waterslides. He has finally reached the age and bravery level to conquer waterslides.
I also got to play with my other two boys in the water.
It was easily one of the best, most stress-free, enjoyable days I've had as a father/parent.

* My dad was old school - in the sense that if you worked and provided for the family you were doing your job as a dad.
After my brother's suicide, dad changed a 180 degrees and became a completely different man, who is not afraid to show affection, seldom loses his temper and seems to have a much better, happier outlook on life. He enjoys his children and grandchildren.
It's sad that it took my brother's death to bring about this change, but it was the silver lining so to speak.