FEATURE

Dad's Weekend Ahead

This Father's Day weekend will be my first with daughters who have different last names.

It's a strange sensation. And it comes with the realization I can no longer deny the advance of time.

Having both daughters at home made you appear (OK, feel) younger, especially around people my age. Now, I'm busted. I was just a late starter - thankfully.

This year, my first Father's Day wish is one lots of dads have had before me. Like them, mine won't be granted.

Instead of a Father's Day when I could go do whatever I pleased because it was "my" day, I'd like to have one more that started with being mugged in the bed, fed a breakfast that might or might not have been edible, and then being smothered with the attention I thought I didn't really want.

I'd really like to have just one more of those Father's Days.

Don't get me wrong, I have been fortunate enough to have been involved in my daughter's lives far more than many people I've worked with over the years.

The decision to leave New York City and downsize both a career and a lifestyle is one I've only regretted on a very few occasions. On most of those, I was holding a self-pity party while sulking about some toy I thought I wanted, but knew I couldn't afford.

The rest of the time, I've known how blessed I have been because of a decision most of my colleagues thought was insane.

While many of my so-called professional friends only saw their kids on alternating weekends and holidays, my family goofed around together.

We played games in the yard, learned to ride bikes, skinned knees, bloodied our noses on a trampoline, and did a pretty darn good imitation of the average American family - as seen on TV in the 1960s.

Sure, we went through those difficult times.

There are few things harder for a Dad than realizing that he's gone from being someone's hero to the dumbest person in the world. With daughters, it happens suddenly, accompanied by inexplicable outbursts of crying, being told you don't understand, and watching confusedly as Mom suddenly the go-to person when things were tough.

But we survived.

And we've come out the other side with relationships that have grown back -mostly- into very close friendships between adults.

OK, I admit that occasionally I lapse into "Dad mode", offering bad advice and making goofy jokes, but dangit, I miss the times that everything I used to say or do was clever and funny.

I bet I'm not the only guy feeling that way this weekend.

So, this Father's Day, I'm going to do something different from the two dozen that have preceded this one.

This year, I'm going to be the one who makes phone calls to say "thanks for everything." After all, I've already been given some great Father's Day gifts.

Enjoy your Father's Day weekend and come back next week.

--Jim Shepherd

Jul 4	California Free Fishing Day Statewide
Jul 4	Independence Day
Jul 15-17	ICAST Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida

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