Father Images

Sunday is Father’s Day, and I miss my daddy, even though this is our eighth Father's Day without him. But I have so many images of him in my internal memory book. Many of them I included in this prose poem I wrote when he was still alive. He would have been the first to say he wasn’t perfect, but he loved his children deeply. And he showed--and spoke--his love.

He belonged to a generation that left young children largely in the mother's care, as they did most domestic tasks. He was an exception. My sister, my brother and I have dear memories of time we spent with him, fishing, walking, reading, or just being; and although only the oldest grand can remember him, all of them know Gramps's special dishes--tomato gravy, hoe cakes, and peanut butter cake.  I couldn’t think of a better way to say how blessed I was to have him than with this Father’s Day gift.

Father Images: A Prose Poem

My father laughs loudly at bad jokes and drinks beer furtively. He believes in God and FDR and Willie Nelson. He drives a black pickup with a gun rack across the rear window and reads Westerns by Louis L’Amour. He knows real men work hard, protect their women, and never cry.

I remember when I cut my foot, and he held me on the way to the hospital. The blood was bright as hair ribbons, and I was scared. And Daddy said, “Go ahead and scream, honey”—even though I was seven and a big girl. I remember when I had the wreck, and his arm was gentle around my shoulders. The lights were whirling red, and I wanted it all to wind backwards. And Daddy said, “The car don’t matter. You’re ok”—even though I was eighteen and had known how to read STOP for long years. I remember when Ken died, and the pain was white hot inside, and I was far away. And Daddy said, “It’ll be all right, baby; it’ll be all right”—even though I was twenty-two and too old to believe in magic.

Now he sits with hands strangely clean, watching reruns on TV and planning the garden he’ll plant come spring. When I leave him, he still says, “Behave yourself” and “Do you have enough money?”

What are your favorite images of your dad or other father figure in your life?