A few months ago, I wrote a piece about my mum for Mother’s Day and I wrote a letter to my sister for her birthday. So, it is only fair that I use Father’s Day as an opportunity to show a bit of love to the man who raised me.

Some of my earliest memories of my dad are from the days when he would drive me to primary school. One occasion, in particular, will forever be engraved in my memory. I was four or five years old at the time and we were stopped at a junction. I pointed to a road sign and asked him what it said.

This was the sign I pointed at:

He informed me that the sign said, “London Road.”

This really confused me. Granted, my reading skills were very limited, but his answer didn’t quite make sense. I tried to further inquire about the sign, but by that point we had left the junction and it was far out of sight. So, I just took my dad’s word as fact. Maybe the letter I had read as an ‘I’ was actually an ‘L’. I had never seen the word ‘London’ in writing, so it was possible that the word was just spelt in a strange way.

Anyway, that day just happened to be the same day that my school got some new toys. We got cars to drive around in, fluorescent vests, hard hats and an array of traffic signs. One of the signs that came in the box was the ‘London Road’ sign that I had pointed out to my dad earlier that day. I thought this was pretty cool. So, during ‘Golden Time’ I took the opportunity to share my recently acquired knowledge about the sign with some of my classmates. However, this led to an argument with Connor N, who claimed that the sign said, ‘Give Way’.

I was perplexed. How on earth could the sign say, ‘Give Way’, when my father, a Chartered Accountant, the smartest person I knew, had told me otherwise. I argued with Connor, but it was a futile battle. There’s just no teaching some people. That afternoon I left the playground thinking Connor to be foolish for not trusting my superior source of information. It wasn’t until the following day, when I was once again driving with my dad, that I learnt I was in the wrong.

The junction looked something like this.

What had happened the previous day was that we had both been looking forward, but at two different signs. My father had unknowingly misinformed me. That day I learnt the harsh lesson that adults, especially parents, cannot be trusted. Since then I have not listened to a single word that has passed my father’s lips. Happy Father’s Day 🙂

Ok, I’m being slightly hyperbolic.

I think this memory has stuck with me all these years because it reflected the nature of my relationship with my dad when growing up. Two people looking in the same direction but seeing completely different things. We had similar personalities but had contrasting perspectives. In addition to this, we both shared a stubborn nature that prevented the alignment of our vision to see where the other was coming from. Consequently, conflict emerged. This conflict resulted in my father being a prime target of my criticism. However, in order to be critical of someone, you have to observe them. And as infuriating as I have found some of my father’s traits to be over the years, it is impossible to watch him and not also have some awe and admiration for the man.

I often overlook my father’s assistance in shaping me into the person I am. I could write pages about him and all that he has inspired in me; from a deep love of music to a relentless drive and determination. I could talk about his ability to command respect in a room or how much my sister and I have benefitted from his hard work. I could equally spend time reminiscing in how his child-like enthusiasm for things has been a source of entertainment and enjoyment over the years. But I won’t. My dad is going to read this at some point, and I don’t want to inflate his ego too much (after all, was it not he who taught me about the importance of humility).

Instead, I want to thank him for being my dad. Someone I can turn to in times of need. We may not always see eye to eye, and he is by no means perfect. But in the midst of all the flaws that I catalogued over the years, he has done a great job at raising a strong family unit. Providing a support structure that has allowed each of us to thrive in our own way. And for that I am truly grateful.

So, once again, thank you dad for being my dad, and happy Father’s Day.