DA !

Dad was Dad.
He was what he was, the sum of all he tried to be and what he was supposed to be, minus all the things he couldn't be.
He was Dad, but he was just a man.
There was a time I hated him. It was a few years in my late teens. I hated him partly for who he was and partly for who I wanted him to be and who he wasn't.
Sandwiched around that time was the adoration only found in the heart of a boy who loves his dad.
Now I look to him for advice on how to live my life. When I was young I looked at him like he was The World
He was Dad.
He was The Man.
He was all I knew to be constant in a world that changed almost daily. I was in a different school every year. I was in a different house more than that. I had a dozen people trying to raise me, grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles, girlfriends, stepmoms and and friends of friends. None of them ever even noticed me unless I did something that got me in trouble. I was a ghost to every one.
Nobody saw me.
Except for Dad.
Sometimes I was afraid. He was so big, so loud and so scary. I cried every time I had to ask him for something but tried to choke back my sobs so he would't think I was weak. It must have worked because he always managed to anser my questions and relate it to a real life scenario.
He taught me about life as he was teaching me how to live
He taught me how to tie my shoes. I remember I was tucked between his legs, his knees folded up and towering above my head. He reached down with his giant hands and guided my fingers as we made a knot and tied the rabbit's ears together. I rember doing it until I could do it all by myself and feeling Dad's arms hugging me after I did it, letting me know how proud he was of me.
He taught me how to fry an egg, change a tire, repair the brakes on my car, iron a shirt, balance my check book and many other things.
He was the first person I called when my first marriage was desintergrating. I called him under the guise that I wanted advice, but all I really wanted was just Dad. He gave me some advice, but the best thing he did that day was give me a big hug. I was trying to be the man he taught me to be but at that moment I was a little boy and just needed Daddy! For a couple of seconds Dad let me be his little boy again and hugged me. I felt safe and warm and just knew everything was going to be O.K.
I have a family of my own now.
I know That I I have a great responsibility, escorting my son up to his own gateway of manhood.
I also know that no matter how old I get, I'm still Dad's son and he loves me.