Apparently I am not the only one with difficulty finding a suitable way to express my appreciation for my dad each year (mom always made it easy by asking for gardening stuff). I just Googled "father's day gift ideas" and was taken to a site where, among the traditional Father's Day gift items (for the hobbies listed above, along with various frames and plaques and other household items declaring "DAD" or bearing sentimental inscriptions about fulfilling the role of one) there were all sorts of items that one clearly does not go looking for, but orders as a last desperate attempt to find something that your dad will like. The World's Largest Gummy Bear (5 pounds and only 12,600 calories!) Chocolate-covered strawberries decorated to resemble various (albeit somewhat misshaped) sports balls. A gallon jug of Tabasco sauce. Pirate skull drinking glasses. A motorized tie rack. Finger drum kits. A USB drive shaped like a hot dog and bun. Bedside nightlight coasters. UV toothbrush sanitizers. (Now, if you really had the notion that one of these things would be exactly what your dad had always wanted, then I suppose you would be thrilled to find the perfect gift to show dad that you care. But for the rest of us... I think I'm going to pass on the gummy bear. Sorry, Dad.)
There are also a number of items that are not really gifts for dad, per se, but say "Thanks, Dad. You've had your Father's Day lunch, now get back to work." Nothing says "I love and appreciate you" like a fancy gutter-cleaning tool or tree-trimming pruning shears. But enough about the difficulty of expressing one's emotions through Father's Day gifts. That is really not what this post is all about.
This is about what Father's Day is supposed to be about: Dads. I'm lucky, I got a great one. As a kid, he'd read me story books at bedtime (or chapters from Encyclopedia Brown books as I got older). He'd let me sit on the back of the couch and manipulate his hair into dozens of tiny tuft pigtails with colorful barrettes. He even made valiant attempts to play Barbie dolls when I wanted someone to play with in a house of brothers. As a pre-teen, he let me paint his toenails (blue, and only one foot, of course. A man does have his limits). He's the one who introduced me to football (though I don't know that he really intended to). And now, he does his best to make up answers to all my grown-up questions about cars, money, etc., even if he doesn't actually know. The point is, he's there, and that's the important thing worth celebrating on Father's Day.
I include grandpas in Father's Day, too, since they don't get a day of their own, and the two I had, at least, rocked too. Growing up, I had friends and classmates who didn't even get a chance to know some of their grandparents-- I was blessed to spend most of my life (up to this point) knowing two more great, Godly men who I knew loved me, without a doubt. I lost my Grandpa Navis several years ago from Alzheimer's, and when it really hit me was when I graduated from college the following spring, because I knew he'd be proud. My Grandpa VanderBent passed away recently, and holidays and gatherings with the extended family back in Michigan will never be the same. Even though I miss both of them greatly, I thank God that I had the chance to know them and see the examples of how they lived their lives. So this Father's Day, I'm remembering and celebrating their influences in my life, too.
Happy Father's Day, Dad! Love, Corrie
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