A Father

A world without fathers?

He came in at once, paused for a moment just inside the door, looked round, then soft on his moccasined feet strode quickly across the room, fell on his knees in front of the Director, and said in a clear voice: "My father!"
The word (for "father" was not so much obscene as -- with its connotation of something at one remove from loathsomeness and moral obliquity of child-bearing -- merely gross, a scatological rather than pornographic impropriety); the comically smutty word relieved what had become a quite intolerable tension. Laughter broke out, enormous, almost hysterical peal after peal, as though it would never stop. My father -- and it was the Director! My father! Oh Ford, oh Ford! That was really too good. The whooping and roaring renewed themselves, faces seemed on the point of disintegration, tears were streaming. Six more test-tubes of spermatozoa were upset. My father!

Pale, wild-eyed, the Director glared about him in an agony of bewildered humiliation.
My father! The laughter, which had shown signs of dying away, broke out again more loudly than ever. He put his hands over his ears and rushed out of the room.

Aldous Huxley Brave New World
Much has been made lately of the consequences of poor fathering and absent fathering. The consequences are disastrous for the children and society at large. One could write for hours on this but why? I cannot say it any better than men such as Bill Cosby who has spoken out strongly against absent fathers. Mothers and Fathers make the world go round.

There seems to have been a recent study that showed that Lesbian couples were better parents that husband-wife pairs but that is nothing but carefully picked and spun propaganda that does not match reality as it only reflected the Personal Opinions of a few carefully picked Lesbian couples and was not at all scientific.

My father was not always right there. His job frequently had him on the road but he did that to meet our needs. His heart was here. When I was five he was overseas with the Marines and I remember many times just standing in front of his Marine portrait just wishing it would move but that was for his country and now I understand that.

He was a workaholic who never stopped. He was a service manager, electrical engineer, township supervisor, he was on the local fireboard and frequently worked with the county commissioners, whom he was on a first name basis with. I am not a workaholic like he was but I do try to be conscientious.




Sadly he is no longer able to care for himself or be the tough independent Father, Husband, Grandfather and American that he was for over seventy years but from time to time that man still comes out. Inside he is as tough as ever.

I love you Dad. Happy Fathers' Day.