Being a Father

How can I possibly write about this subject, clearly I am a female, clearly I have no children, so how can I come to the table with any knowledge that would be fitting to others.  Simply because I have one of the kindest most patient fathers in existence.  Those two things make a wonderful father.  My father is not perfect, he has his flaws, but he raised six wonderful children so he did some things right.  The earliest memories of my father are doing our paper route together.  When I was little my parents had to make ends meet so in addition to working a full-time job my parents had a paper route.  Every day after my half day of kindergarten, my dad (who worked the night shift at AT&T) would pick me up and we would do the afternoon paper route together.  This is before the internet when papers would be printed in the morning and the evening.

I can't ever remember not enjoying myself on the paper route, the one thing that always sticks in my mind is when we would deliver papers to this retirement home.  Many of the apartments were outside and situated in little squares with a courtyard in the middle.  As we would walk through the courtyards my father would race me as I would take the long way around and he the straight path.  I always won.  The thought brings tears to my eyes.  I can't go into a great deal about my father every little pleasant memory would turn into a novel.

My parents separated when I was 11 and then divorced later on.  My father moved 24 miles away from us.  We spent every other weekend with him and when we were there, he was there. That is a long distance to be from your children, but he never felt too far away.  He would sometimes come to see us during the week.  I remember the time I was afraid to go to school because there was a dead snake on the front step, he came to remove it.

This was 20 years ago now, and we know gas prices are high.  I have one dear friend that recently moved from the house he owned and is renting an apartment so he could be ten miles closer to his child.  This was phenomenal to me, but with gas prices nearly at $4.00 per gallon, it is a logical step, if you want to spend as much time as you can with your children.  It is admirable to say the least. 

So what does all this sentimental mumbo jumbo mean....why is it "being a father?"  They are being fathers.  Fathers are there for their children.  I know that people have financial difficulties, jobs, new wives, needs, but being a father means that your children come first, no excuses.