I spent a nice father's day with my son who is 20 and now lives on his own. I picked him up and we saw The Chronicles of Riddick which both of us enjoyed and he paid for. I think that is the first time that he paid for my movie ticket instead of the other way around. After that we went to Fry's Electronics where I bought a new hard drive and Hitman 2 which was on sale. He asked to look at the game and then bought me that too. Afterwards we went to Veggie Heaven, a great restaurant, where we had spring rolls, fried rice, and kung pao chow mein and flan. I insisted on paying for dinner. Of course the entire day we were driving around and talking and I really enjoyed his company.
Ever since he was a little boy I always worked part time so that I could spend my time with him; fortunately my profession allowed me to do that and still make a decent income. I used to fly around the country taking him to fencing tournaments. I remember, when he was 4, swimming out to a raft several hundred feet from shore. When I was halfway to the raft I looked back and to my amazement he was paddling out behind me. I slowed down and we went out to the raft together--I hadn't know that he could swim. As an infant when he started crawling and I was lying in bed he never could crawl over my legs--too high an obstacle for him. He would try and try but couldn't do it. Then one day he made it across my legs.
It hasn't always been fun being a father, but I am pleased and delighted with the relationship we have now.
On another note my wife gave me a binary clock for father's day! Very cool. I am going to set it up at work and nobody will know the time except for me. Ha!
So if you are a dad of young kids give them as much of your time and energy as you can. It pays off. If you are an adolescent talk to your dad and let him know what is going on with you. You might be surprised to learn that he is an interesting human being who has your happiness and welfare at heart.
Happy Father's Day.
