As Father's Day approaches, .. *m

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-23-2003
As Father's Day approaches, .. *m
21
Sun, 06-12-2005 - 12:41pm

Tell us how you father played a roll in your life.  Was he funny?  Was he "hands on"?  Was he gruff, but lovable?  Is he living?  How did he play a roll in your spiritual life?


 

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2003
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 4:07pm

So true...I find the older I get, the softer my view toward my upbringing...scars of the past are difficult to transcend indeed...I did not have a happy childhood by any stretch of the imagination though, by rights, it should have been. But when a mother dies prematurely and leaves a great void, it's up to the folks left behind to rise to the challenge. Some of us fared better than others.

In my experience, I've found that you get some things and you don't get others...a Little House on the Prairie-like childhood was well beyond my reach...ditto for the white house with the picket fence...and all the other things I envied in my friends when I was young...but God did bless me in many other ways...especially my beautiful children.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2003
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 4:12pm

LadyCee, perhaps this is your dad's way of working through the trouble spots of his life? By returning to the source maybe? In any case, he sounds like a pretty special man.

My dad was the only male in our house too...but, I think we all drove him crazy! On occasion, we spoiled him but not very often, LOL.

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-27-2004
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 5:10pm

Unfortunately my dad died when I was 8 and I hardly remember him. What I do remember of him was that he had to be obeyed though he was by no means a tyrant. He didn't believe in hitting children and I don't remember him raising his voice in anger, he never used foul language either. He was already 46 when I was born as the youngest of 6 children. His own father died when he was 14 so his own experience of having a father figure was limited.

I don't remember much affection being shown by him, but then I don't remember feeling in any way unloved by him either. I have been told that he had a very dry sense of humour and from anecdotes I have been told by my mother I'm sure he was good fun to have around when he was having his less serious moments. I also understand from what I've been told that he was a family man who provided the best he could for his children without making a big fuss about it.

Carol

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-31-2003
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 8:22pm
Awe Cee, what a nice description of your Dad.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-31-2003
Tue, 06-14-2005 - 8:26pm

"but God did bless me in many other ways...especially my beautiful children."


I love this!

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-20-2004
Wed, 06-15-2005 - 10:45am

Oh, this is a good one.....


My dad is a humble guy....shorter than the rest of us, but not too short.

Shyla

  

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-22-2003
Wed, 06-15-2005 - 3:21pm

Well, now's our chance to tell him again!


iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2003
Wed, 06-15-2005 - 3:45pm

Thanks, Cara...I do wonder what I did to deserve them and my h too at times..how they put up with me is a mystery, LOL!

BTW, I was born and raised in CT too...I know what you mean about leaving the doors unlocked...in those small towns...it was certainly a different world then, huh?

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-31-2003
Thu, 06-16-2005 - 8:52am

Yes, it sure was a different world.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-17-2003
Thu, 06-16-2005 - 3:44pm

I know exactly where E. Granby is...it's pretty there...lots of woods...I grew up in a suburb on the outskirts of Waterbury, CT...where I live now has no "edge of town"--it's all one blend of city into city, no woods or open space in between. That's been an adjustment for me...

My eldest will be in sixth grade next year...and she's requested permission to walk home alone after school...I just can't say yes so she's not going to be happy when she hears my answer...ditto for my younger dd, whose school is ONE block from our house...she's nine...but I insist on walking her to and from each day...

I work with kids so I know way too much about the things that can go wrong...