Five years ago, when I got married in November of 2000, I was hoping to be a father by now. As it turns out, it didn’t work that way. I had hoped to start fatherhood by teaching my children many of the things I learned were important from my own father. Love, trust, honesty, compassion, respect and honor are among the things I learned from my father, in various ways.
Today is Father’s Day. I would like to tell you something about my father. My father is one of the people I love and respect most, although I don’t always show it. He has a Ph.D and is a chemical engineer. A lot of his inventions affect the world we live in today, although many of us don’t even know it. His work in non-polluting automobiles is in many ways the reason we have air that is breathable today. He has worked as a consulting engineer most of my life, but was one of the youngest chief research engineers at Esso. He believes in using engineering and technology to improve social conditions and society. In many ways, I think he is an idealist, although he would probably deny it.
There are a lot of things I admire about my father, and a few things I wished were different. There is one trait of his that I both admire and wished were different. He is a workaholic. This was always tough when we were children. It was sometimes very difficult to see my father, and know that he is at home, but that he isn’t there for us. He doesn’t have any real hobbies or do anything besides work, and play with his grandsons.
Growing up, my father and I didn’t always get along well. This is probably due to the fact that in so many ways, I am very similar in many ways to my father. My aunt always says, “You’re just like him, so like him.” One thing I did do when I was growing up, is I worked with my father. In many ways, it was one of the only ways I could spend time with him. My twin once asked me why I still worked for him, when my father and I would drive each other crazy. I replied, “When we’re working together is about the only time we’re not fighting, and he actually listens to me.”
He’s mellowed with age… like a good single malt whiskey. Watching him with Nicholas and Max, sometimes, I’m envious. He is much closer to his grandchildren, my two nephews, than he was to my twin and me.
I’m about to go back to Boston, and leave this life in Virginia behind. I will again be working with my father, and I look forward to it. But, today is Father’s Day, and I am still in Virigina. So, I just wanted to wish my father, and all the other fathers I know, but especially my father, a very happy Father’s Day.
Happy Father’s Day Doc.