Our parents are precious. The time with them is limited.  And, life is always short. When I look back on this month, I'll be glad I took the time to call and to honor him on his birthday.

Daddy is like air -

He’s practical, sensible, dependable and not in your face, but he’s there. He is silly and tells terrible Dad jokes that make no sense. None. He finds his jokes funny. They are not. My sisters and I have been scolding him for his jokes since the 80s. Just recently, he was hung up on; the person thought they were dealing with a delinquent prankster. He said, in wonder to my sister, “I thought I was funny.” Oh dear.

"Girl, you think

you know

everything."

TOP LEADERS LOOK LIKE US, TOO

My Dad lived through Guyana's struggle for colonial independence from Britain.He told me a couple of months ago that the Prime Minister of Guyana would visit Montreal. Together, the recent emigrants would discuss the future of his homeland. So, that explains the picture of PM Forbes Burnham in our family photo album. As a kid, I would scoff at my Dad's false patriotism and say things like. “and who has a picture of their prime minster in a photo album, like you guys are friends or something!” He would just say, nothing or something like “little girl you think know everything.” But he never proved himself.  

WE PLAYED TEA PARTIES ON HIS BACK WHILE HE NAPPED 

PRESENCE AND GRATITUDE

Growing up, the best thing about our Dad was that he was there. When someone is like air, it is easy to forget to be grateful for how they are.  You forget that you learned to fix cars and to be responsible for yourself.  You forget that their back was the support for your tea parties and so many things. You forget that they kept a picture of a prime minister that looked like you so you would believe it was possible.

A wonderful day at the Pacific coast with my Dad

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