In honour of Father’s Day I thought I’d share some little things my father used to do that made my sisters and I feel loved:
1. He would sharpen our pencil crayons with his jack-knife.
2. When my sisters and I would come home off the school bus he’d leave us a little note on the counter telling us where he was working on the farm. He’d always include a little stick drawing of himself and the cat.
3. Every morning he’d wake us up for school and keep us company while we ate breakfast. He’d be the one to dollop porridge in our bowls.
4. He’d find where the mother cat had her kittens, or where the dog had her puppies and would crawl in prickly, cramped, claustrophobic places to pluck out the babies so we could hold them…even it if was only for a minute or two.
5. He’d make Cheez Whiz toast for us when we were sick, and cut the bread into four equal quarters.
6. He’d shovel off the dugout in the bush so we would have our own little skating rink.
7. He’d make sure the night-light was always lit.
8. Every morning during the school year he’d watch us toddle out to the end of the driveway and cross the road . He’d then patiently wait until we all safely got on the school bus.
9. He would be more gentle than my mother when taking out splinters.
10. He would discover baby mice or partridge eggs or newly hatched ducklings and would always find the time to share his discoveries with us.
Oh he did all the grandiose fatherly things too like put food on the table, teach us to drive and help pay for our education…
but it’s the little things that stick closest to the heart.
Ink And Spine 