Father's Day

I am so thankful and blessed that my husband is the kind of father described in this poem!!

Here's to the Fathers...

(Mitch Albom, 1996, The Detroit News)

Here's to the fathers, who always begin,
on the outside of children, but looking in.
Such curious men snapping cameras like mad,
recording the moment, they turn into "Dad."

Here's to the fathers, who put in their time,
who don't say to mother's 'that's your job, not mine'.
Who wipe chins and noses and never say "won't"
who do with the diapers, what some fathers don't.

...Here's to the fathers whose big money dreams,
die in the comer while their baby screams.
And yet without anger, dread or regrets,
they comfort the child, hold it close to their chests.

And as the child grows, they grow with it too,
learning a depth that they never knew.
And soon they are older, their hair slightly gone,
chasing two children around the front lawn.

Or car-pooling teams to Little League games,
buying them hamburgers after it rains.
They mend broken dolls and fix broken wheels,
they cringe when their daughters, try their first pair of heels.

They reach in their pockets, but never keep count,
they pay dear for parenthood awful amounts
They postpone their plans to sail across seas,
instead they sing "Barney" and bandage skinned knees.

Here's to the fathers who get off the phone,
to hear their sons practice their new saxophone
Who leave work to see their daughter's recital
Here's to the heroes, who work without title.

...For all the good boys they have raised in the world
for all the examples they set for their girls
For all the loved children whose stories they'll tell
Here's to the father's that taught them so well.


Happy Father's Day!