For Father's Day! My Dad Can Do Anything

My Daddy can do anything. Really, he’s proved it over and over again. Another Fathers Day.

When I think about the kind of father I have I am in awe. That's why the history and celebration of Fathers Day is interesting. But I'm really more proud of my own Dad.

My Dad personifies why we have an archetypal father in so many ways. He was always there for us. He’s the kind of Dad who was scout leader to my brothers. He’s the kind of Dad who chauffeured me and my girlfriends back and forth to the mall. He was at every school play and recital I ever had.

Now he’s 80 and I’m forty. I am so grateful to have him here for another Fathers Day. I still depend on him every day of my life. That scares me. I know he can’t live forever. I don’t even think he wants to. What he does want is to be there for me and my sister and brothers. He wants to be there for my Mom. And my Dad wants to leave something behind.

He’s worked hard all of his life. First in a government career for over 30 years. Then he tried a variety of things, financial planning, bus driving, most recently doing taxes on a seasonal basis. Anything to earn a little extra money and stay busy.

He gave up on going out in the world to work a few years ago. He did taxes for a few seasons. Now he’s retired from that too. But he certainly hasn’t retired from life. In the last ten years he’s always had a major project. He’s traced our family genealogy back into the 1600s. He’s written about his life. A life I never remember him talking about when I was growing up. He was always too busy living it.

His most recent project has been an HVAC invention. That’s right my Dad is now an inventor. That’s amazing to me. I don’t remember seeing a creative side to my Dad when I was growing up. I do remember him always working. Now in the last few years, he’s combined that work with a creative ability that must have always been there. He’s got a patent on his HVAC product. He did this in his seventies.

It’s seemed to me that my Dad has always wanted to leave something behind. This man who comes from a humble family. His father was the first Black plumber in Richmond, VA. That’s why his family had the first indoor plumbing on the block. My Dad who returned from WWII and worked his way up into management in the Social Security Administration. He was one of the first Black men ever to receive such high ranking.

This man who stood up for civil rights in the 60’s. He led our family into leadership positions. This man who has five children with college educations.

I look at men today. They tend to specialize. We all know them, the kind of man who can earn a six figure income but can’t change a light switch. Or the kind of man who’s great with his hands, but balancing the checkbook is a little too much. My Dad’s unique. He’s a professional man who isn’t afraid to get dirty. He’s got enough common sense to fix just about anything.

I was always proud of the way my Dad could do anything. On this Fathers Day, I remember how I was young how he used to go to the work as management in the office during weekdays.

On nights and weekends he did everything else. He installed an entire bathroom, wired the plumbing and finished our basement in one house. He would change the oil and work on the cars himself. Wherever we lived there were always young men in the neighborhood that came to him for advice. Men with professional careers that didn’t know how to change a light switch. Men who would rather hire someone to hook up the ice maker on the new refrigerator until they realized they could do it themselves, with my father’s help.

That's why I appreciate him so much. Helped everyone around him become better. Not just on Fathers Day either. All Year.

My Dad has never been a real talkative man. He’s much more of a doer. Now that he’s older I sense he wants to talk more. But he doesn’t know how. That’s one area of experience he never really picked up. And now that his hearing is pretty much gone, it’s harder than ever.

But at 80, my Dad is still going strong. Running around town. Of course now it’s to Dr’s appointments for him and my mom. My mom’s got Alzheimer’s so now the house keeping is his responsibility. But he’s always been organized. He’s always been able to take care of himself. He can cook when he wants to. Always could.

Recently, I’ve seen him show tenderness to my mother that I didn’t know he had in him. I should have known. A man that would give everything he has always these years has to be capable of such tenderness. He has a heart big enough for the whole city.

Volunteer work. Adopted sons. Understanding. In recent years, he’s seen us kids make decisions, he couldn’t understand. But he’s still supportive. We’ve left behind established careers to pursue things that might fulfill us more. Why. I think it’s because we were raised by a man who showed us anything was possible.

I know a lot of women think their Dad’s can do everything. But mine can. Really.

Happy Fathers Day, Dad!