Father's Day

Early Father ‘s Day morning and I’m thinking of my father.  He was a complicated man. Not well educated and not especially ambitious, but he was a hard-working guy who willingly embraced his responsibility to take care of his family.

He worked as a pressman in his older brother’s two-man printshop, taking the city subway every morning to the shop’s location across from Penn Station in downtown Newark, New Jersey. He was a skilled craftsman comfortable with both offset and letterpress printing methods. When money was tight, he found part time work as a waiter, first in a nightclub and then in a neighborhood Italian restaurant. The man often worked seven days a week yet found time to play catch with his boys.

His payoff wasn’t a shiny new car or a relaxing vacation at the Jersey shore. He and my mother settled for regular Friday night card games with their siblings, and when he wasn’t serving spaghetti and meatballs, there were Sunday afternoon rides with my two brothers and I in the backseat. We’d go to the park and maybe to Applegate Farms for ice cream at a specialty shop that offered exotic flavors like cantaloupe and boysenberry. 

It was a hard life I’m sure, but over the long hall, I hope he found meaning in his life through his sons, all of whom became responsible citizens who got the college education he constantly preached about. We married, raised families and worked hard. The lessons he taught us, by example and through words of encouragement, words of warning and above all his constant expression of hope for us, were not wasted. 

As a father myself, I take pride in my children’s accomplishments. They too have worked hard and are raising families in an era far more complicated and challenging than the world my father and I lived in. 

On Father’s Day children and grandchildren give the old man a new screwdriver, or a grill for burgers and hotdogs, maybe a gift card, or something nice to wear. The greatest gift though is time spent together. One look at a good father’s eyes during those precious moments tells the story. He would gladly make any sacrifices he made all over again.  

I don’t know how other fathers feel about their special day. I can only say what’s on my mind this morning.  I am most grateful for my children’s success, good health, happiness and perhaps most important of all for their sense of responsibility. 

I believe that fathers everywhere, whether they are currently raising little ones or watching their grown kids raise their own brood, want the same thing. To know that ultimately, whatever their children do with their lives, they accept life’s challenges with a firm resolve to stand tall and do what is right for their families and their communities.

And, more than he may say in words, a father wants that his kids have found joy in their lives, that their cups runneth over with happiness. These are the best gifts you can give your dad. It’s a gift that does keep on giving every day of the year.