DAD WEPT\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Call it one of my blind spots (of which I have a few)\u2026 but I am not a fan of Mother\u2019s Day, Father\u2019s Day or Valentine\u2019s Day. Maybe it\u2019s just the Grumpy in me, but it\u2019s the artificial constructs of these celebration<\/em> days that give me nausea and anxiety. For my part, take all the candy, flowers and Hallmark cards and dump them into a landfill. Why do I need a designated day to remind me that I am a father? And at one time, a son? And on \u201cFather\u2019s Day\u201d, how much fun is it to be straddling two chairs? Being both a son and <\/em>a father? It was a joy being a son (and a grandson), and just as much a joy being a father (and a grandfather)\u2026 I just don\u2019t need a specified day to honor the occasion<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think my ambivalence about these special days<\/em>, trace back to one Mother\u2019s Day when I was in my mid-teens. Dad decided that he wanted to visit the cemetery, and Mom said that I should go along. I didn\u2019t want to. My thinking: Mother\u2019s Day was about Mom (who was here and breathing), and that\u2019s who we should be honoring \u2013 why was Dad confusing the issue?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reluctantly I went with Dad to East Haven to where Bubbie rested. We walked to her grave site. For the visit Dad brought a small flat of pansies and a trowel. He picked a place near the headstone, dug a small aperture in the ground, planted the pansies, and then took his hands to replace the earth around the small flowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gardenin<\/em>g done, he stood up and looked at the monument, then looked down. Not a word spoken. Thoughts collected silently. When he looked up, tears traced down his cheeks. Then a masked sob, a brief sniffle. And nothing more shared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" DAD WEPT\u2026 Call it one of my blind spots (of which I have a few)\u2026 but I am not a fan of Mother\u2019s Day, Father\u2019s Day or Valentine\u2019s Day. Maybe it\u2019s just the Grumpy in me, but it\u2019s the artificial … Continue reading