Tomorrow is Father's Day and my efforts to find a decent card for my dad have been exhausting. We won't even talk about how many stores I went to before I saw a card that said "Brother", and to find one that said Brother-in-Law was almost a dummy mission, but I did manage to find one in a locally owned bootleg dollar tree-type store. All of them are really great fathers who deserve honor where it is due.
But here's what's troubling me. I've seen people on social media sites saying no one cares about Father's Day or they didn't even realize Father's Day was coming up. Retailers have put forth some effort to place a nice older gentleman in a golfing outfit on the front of their sales adds, but certainly not the same hoopla we heard about Mother's Day. This got me to thinking: why isn't Father's Day celebrated with the same sincerity.
I realize that in today's society there are a lot more children growing up in homes without fathers for various reasons. Some chose to abandoned their kids, some don't even know the child exist, maybe it's the mother keeping him away (yeah, women can be some vindictive bitties sometimes), and their are lots of children who's father's are now angels watching over them... I don't know all the circumstances behind absentee fathers but what I do know is this isn't every one's testimony.
I am unapologetically a daddy's girl! Yes... I LOVE MY DADDY! He's an old-school manly man so he doesn't say a lot of mushy stuff and his way of expressing his love for me is to check the oil in my car and the pressure in my tires before I get on the road. I can't recall one night my daddy didn't come home to his 3 kids. I don't even think my daddy has spent the night in a hospital away from us. As a matter of fact, for many years he was the face that greeted me at the end of the day at nursery school. I loved riding with daddy in his pick-up truck because he listened to R&B music (Mom listened to gospel on the AM station. I had balance even as a kid.) He taught me to ride a bike, put up with my violin practice and was one of my biggest (yet surprised) fans when I started singing. He even went with me to my after-prom party junior year because my mom insisted he chaperoned. He sat there all night til 4am with the other parents and acted like he didn't know me. (We were both so through with mama that night, but I did end up having a good time.)
When I left for college, and dropped out and went back and dropped out and went back and finished, daddy never expressed his disappointment and moved all of my clothes and shoes without ever murmuring a complaint. He helped me move into my first apartment and was the first person to cross the threshold. "This ain't bad. I mean since it's free (I was a resident director) yeah... this is nice!"
And when I made the decision to move to Atlanta, it became to real to him on the day I left. He couldn't look me in the eye, but he said "I don't know why you're leaving, but be careful." and walked out the room. But when I came back to visit after a month and had survived he made sure to tell everyone at his high school reunion and family reunion "Yeah, you know my daughter lives in Atlanta now." I, along with my siblings and his grandkids, am my dad's pride and joy.
I have not one bad thing to say about my "da" (that's what we call him). I tell people all the time I got the dramatic personality from my mom, but the truth of the matter is the characteristics I got from my daddy balance me out. I am the perfect blend of the two.
I said all that to say all of this... it is not my fault that you didn't grow up with a dad, but for those of us who did, stop trying to rain on our Father's Day parade. I know a lot of people who share similar stories like mine, both guys and girls, who were fortunate enough to share a good relationship with their fathers. I'm grateful to still have my daddy and I know for a fact there are some people who wish their dad was still here on earth to celebrate with, so my heart goes out to them as well.
If you don't do for your dad or don't like him that's your business. I'm praying for God to heal your brokenness, but as for me and my siblings we'll be enjoying steaks (like we often do on Sundays) grilled with much love by our dear old dad!
Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there!
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Bite me!?!
Once again I must give my commentary on something that has been in the news recently and has the people all a buzz... the zombie attacks!
Like most of us who have heard about these face bitings, flinging of one's own intestines and other odd issues of the flesh, my first thought was "You know the media will make a big deal out of anything", then I thought... "But hype or no hype, that's crazy!!!" As the stories continued to surface from various places I then thought "Oooh Jesus! That's an end time mess!"
But then it hit me... I saw all these post about the excitement surrounding the new season of True Blood, and a preview for the Abraham Lincoln as vampire slayer movie, and there's a new commercial for featuring the Twilight guys. One of the biggest fads in pop culture today is the vicarious lifestyle of vampires and other people biting people. Now I can't say I'm totally familiar with this sect of fiction and film. The last vampire movies I saw were "Vampire in Brooklyn" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving it!" (both of which are your sho'nuff laugh!!!). I've never read or seen anything Twilight related, can barely tell you what channel True Blood comes on, and Vampire Diaries films in the metro ATL area, otherwise I would be clueless to that series too.
So with all this seemingly sexy neck biting being glorified in mainstream fiction, film and tv, why are we so appalled that people are biting people???
They are linking this "zombie apocalypse" to the possible abuse of "bath salts" (which has me scratching my head in confusion all by itself!), but clearly we should know by now after watching all these reality shows on cable which broadcast the "weird" lives and habits of people for all the world to see, that there are quite a few people in the world, and certainly in our very own country who simply aren't wrapped tight, yet they are perfectly ok with their warped sense of normalcy. If these people were willing to get high on bath salts, then of course taking their vampire or other sci-fi fantasy from the inside of their head and acting it out in reality felt right to them at the time.
Everybody has that little bit of crazy when it comes to things they enjoy... I mean who am I to talk. I have to have tissue and almost need ushers when I go to romantic-comedies because in the back of my mind I'm screaming "WHY HASN'T THIS HAPPENED FOR ME YET???" (I'm just serious!!!)
Hopefully the next pop-culture sweep will involve nerd intellect bio-genetic engineering for incurable disease or economic strategic planning. That way when someone brings their obsession from their mind into reality it will seem less creepy and create a solution to some of the real problems we have in this country.
Anywho... zombies or no zombies, like the old folk say "It's a praying time!!!"
Like most of us who have heard about these face bitings, flinging of one's own intestines and other odd issues of the flesh, my first thought was "You know the media will make a big deal out of anything", then I thought... "But hype or no hype, that's crazy!!!" As the stories continued to surface from various places I then thought "Oooh Jesus! That's an end time mess!"
But then it hit me... I saw all these post about the excitement surrounding the new season of True Blood, and a preview for the Abraham Lincoln as vampire slayer movie, and there's a new commercial for featuring the Twilight guys. One of the biggest fads in pop culture today is the vicarious lifestyle of vampires and other people biting people. Now I can't say I'm totally familiar with this sect of fiction and film. The last vampire movies I saw were "Vampire in Brooklyn" and "Dracula: Dead and Loving it!" (both of which are your sho'nuff laugh!!!). I've never read or seen anything Twilight related, can barely tell you what channel True Blood comes on, and Vampire Diaries films in the metro ATL area, otherwise I would be clueless to that series too.
So with all this seemingly sexy neck biting being glorified in mainstream fiction, film and tv, why are we so appalled that people are biting people???
They are linking this "zombie apocalypse" to the possible abuse of "bath salts" (which has me scratching my head in confusion all by itself!), but clearly we should know by now after watching all these reality shows on cable which broadcast the "weird" lives and habits of people for all the world to see, that there are quite a few people in the world, and certainly in our very own country who simply aren't wrapped tight, yet they are perfectly ok with their warped sense of normalcy. If these people were willing to get high on bath salts, then of course taking their vampire or other sci-fi fantasy from the inside of their head and acting it out in reality felt right to them at the time.
Everybody has that little bit of crazy when it comes to things they enjoy... I mean who am I to talk. I have to have tissue and almost need ushers when I go to romantic-comedies because in the back of my mind I'm screaming "WHY HASN'T THIS HAPPENED FOR ME YET???" (I'm just serious!!!)
Hopefully the next pop-culture sweep will involve nerd intellect bio-genetic engineering for incurable disease or economic strategic planning. That way when someone brings their obsession from their mind into reality it will seem less creepy and create a solution to some of the real problems we have in this country.
Anywho... zombies or no zombies, like the old folk say "It's a praying time!!!"
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