When people look at my father, they see wrinkles like that of an old redwood. They see graying hair and a limp that cause them to assume that my father has been through a lot. My fathers hands are cracked like the desert that he works in, but they"re soft enough to play with his granddaughter. What they don't see is the patience and the love that he has for his children. The sacrifices he has had to make in order to keep his family together, like putting me through Charter Hospital with his life savings in order to save my life. Being a good father is a rough and trying job that takes nurturing, love strength, and a good sense of humor. .
A father is a man who raises or nurtures a child. A father is not a man who beats and criticizes his children. A father is not a man who relinquishes his duties to his children. A father needs to remember that he is raising a delicate person that needs his full attention at all times. Every little problem like bumping his or her head and falling down and getting a cut needs tending to, so a father cannot forget his duties to his children. A child carries a label stamped upon his or her soul that says, "Fragile handle with care." A good father sets out each day to administer correctives to the child. But he keeps in mind all the time that the child is also fragile, his or her spirit, his or her self image; his or her personhood must be handled with a delicate hand. A father is a miracle fixer of tricycles, and wagons, not a destroyer of lives.
Love is the only four letter word that a child should hear from his father. Over the years my father has established a kind of tradition with me. His "I love you" and my similar response are usually the last words we say to one another each night after we talk on the phone. My father taught me the words at an early age and not to be ashamed to say them. We play this singing game in which we tell each other that we love one another, and to this day we still sing it, but now my father includes my daughter.
