Writing down ideas for a blog can sometimes prove more difficult than I first imagined. I’m not in the habit of spinning yarns about myself. As inventive as I may appear, I’m pretty much a recluse, nerdy type of individual on the low-low. Ideas and how people express ideas are the lighthouses of the port-of-call I frequent.
However, if anything enjoyable did take place. I must say, it was last Father’s Day. Undoubtedly for me, the best Father’s Day of my life thus far, at the Riverdale Y Juneteenth event this past Sunday, June 18th in the Bronx, where I was able to sell some of our company’s games underneath a tent on a beautiful day.
My daughter and youngest son were there to assist me; considering I’ve been a dad for more than forty-five years, it was a Father’s Day worth enjoying. Sadly, I wasn’t raised to view Father's Day as a big affair. My own father frowned upon it, saying, “Just another way for Hallmark to take money out of your pocket.” Or “I’m your father, son; what else do you expect me to do?”
He didn’t want cards or anything acknowledging his position as a dad. I’d buy him a book to read, and he’d be happy with that, and pancakes. LOL.
I guess his approach toward Father’s Day rubbed off on me. I love my kids and feel blessed to have them in my life, so what’s the big deal? Taking me out to lunch or dinner is kind of nice. And while I won’t deny it. A good rest day and being left alone to work on ideas is hard for many to understand. I know it may seem corny, but spending time thinking or daydreaming (something my elementary school teachers would complain about me) is something I enjoy doing. I go to bed with ideas and wake up with them.
But I will tell you, watching my kids explain my games to strangers and watching the smiles on their faces and the joy in their eyes or their children's eyes during their interaction. Knowing that, I was visibly seeing the passing of the ideas in my head to them passing it on to others. Well, it put a lump in my throat. Working together side by side was something my father and I rarely did. He did his thing and wasn’t much about sharing. Teaching, but rarely working side by side on a project.
I don’t want to paint my dad in a bad light. His father died when he was an infant, and he was raised in the South by a stepfather he never got along with. It explained a lot to me growing up.
Sharing a tent under the warm sun with friendly faces and the sounds of other people’s children and my own. The fact that I could do this with my adult kids, share a busy day, and socialize with folks made it a blessed day indeed. Happy Father’s Day!