Fathers' Day

Today is Fathers' Day, and since my dad lives back in Boston, thousands of miles away, I don't really have much to do today. I don't have any family here, except for my host family, but there is also a lack of a father in this house, so I don't foresee any special activities planned for the day. I'm not sure what people here generally do for this day, but I would imagine that it's pretty similar around the world. People spend time with their families and maybe even give some presents for the patriarch.

I actually thought Fathers' Day was last week for some reason. I don't know why, but I have this memory from my childhood when I lived in New York. It was Fathers' Day and I was out with my dad and brother on a canoe trip in a river or lake in Westchester. I'm fairly certain that it was June 14th, and I don't know why that date has stood out in my mind. But anyway, because of that I just assumed Fathers' Day was every June 14th, so when I called home last week I said "Happy Fathers' Day" for no reason. But hey, at least I jumped the gun instead of totally forgetting altogether. But I did tell some other people that it was the holiday, and I wonder if they screwed up too by calling home and saying it.

For the majority of this year I've only spoken to my dad once a week on our Sunday night Skype calls, or occasionally through an email if there's a pressing matter. But that's to be expected, because when you grow up and move away you can't always be updating everyone on every detail of every day. This is a fact that my mother has never been able to understand, and she insists on hearing everything.

And though it can often be aggravating hearing the voice of reason or a warning, it is good to at least have someone there to care. Though I've yearned for my independence for a while now, my dad will still step in and help out with figuring out finances, insurance, or taxes. And he's always interested in hearing what I'm up to. Being away from home for so long, you really get to appreciate the things that you used to have and what you miss.

I remember specific occasions on which it would just be my dad and I at home, watching a Red Sox game or some movie. I remember a great bonding experience when we both watched "Fight Club" together for the first time on some dull Friday night. Though it's not a comedy, there are really funny parts of the movie, and at times we were both cracking up. My dad laughed so hard at one point he almost blacked out and we had to rewind it to see what he missed. Those kinds of memories are free and always the most precious.

I hope I can have a few more of them when I come home for three weeks in August before moving on again. So I hope you enjoyed this blog post dad. Hopefully it's better than another tie. Happy Fathers' Day from Ecuador.