Today- is Father’s Day. One of those
holidays often referred to in my thoughts and by others as a “Hallmark”
holiday. A holiday that has lost its original purpose in the commercial
marketing of gifts and cards and a sense of social obligation to
gather, to purchase a gift, to send a card.
My father passed from this life 27 years ago on Easter Sunday. Today, as on many other days, memories of who he was and is in my life returned to my awareness. I was moved to reread an article I wrote for the Transcendental Rebirthing System that along with others contributed by TR Trainers was included in a book by Ivonne Delaflor Alexander; The Divine Father. Below is that article which I choose to share with you in celebration and gratitude for the man-my father
“As I began to write of my father, I found the memories all mixed together. What I remembered and loved, and all mixed into those memories was the awareness of my child self longing for more: more of his time, more of his attention. Physically strong, athletic, confident, handsome with black wavy hair, blue eyes and a ready smile. He worked long hours 6.5 days per week, and as a small child I remember being so excited when he would come home, coming in the back door, taking off his oil stained clothing and putting on clean clothes and washing his hands and face. It was as if the sun would shine inside the house, bringing warmth and light when he came home.
For me, my father created a container of safety. I could and did ask my father most anything, and share with him many feelings. Two of my most favorite times growing up were dinners at the kitchen table where we would talk about everything, lingering long after the meal was done and the rare occasions where he would take me with him on Sundays, when he only worked 4 hours instead of 10. I would ride with him up to check on oil wells. I followed him into oil leases, climbed among tank farms, went into derricks and we would talk and laugh. For those special times, it was as if he opened a door and let me into his world away from home.
My father was a man with a ready smile, who conveyed a genuine liking of and interest in others. He seemed equally admired by men, women and children. In reviewing my experiences as his daughter, I pay tribute to how much he shaped my view of men, men’s relationships with women, and what a father’s role with children. My father was not authoritative in the sense of bossy, abusive or controlling. Rather he influenced by his presence, his story telling, his ability to laugh at himself, his “code” about being a man and his modeling of how to live and be. He became, in the mind and heart of my child self, someone who was larger than life itself. From the child perspective, he supported my mother 100%. No matter what went on between them, to me they were a team. Always working together, supporting each other and granting to each other respect, appreciation and tribute and creating consistency between them with me.
………I am in gratitude for this opportunity to give tribute: …….to my father for his laughter, enjoyment of life, finding his passion, responsibility for family, modeling and the sense of safety and protection that he gifted to me and to our home. I am in gratitude and appreciation for all of who he was.”
I invite all fathers this day to give even more of a most important gift- your conscious loving presence and time with your child- they are the moments that help form their lives and moments they will treasure.For more info:www.beyourbrilliancenow.com
My father passed from this life 27 years ago on Easter Sunday. Today, as on many other days, memories of who he was and is in my life returned to my awareness. I was moved to reread an article I wrote for the Transcendental Rebirthing System that along with others contributed by TR Trainers was included in a book by Ivonne Delaflor Alexander; The Divine Father. Below is that article which I choose to share with you in celebration and gratitude for the man-my father
“As I began to write of my father, I found the memories all mixed together. What I remembered and loved, and all mixed into those memories was the awareness of my child self longing for more: more of his time, more of his attention. Physically strong, athletic, confident, handsome with black wavy hair, blue eyes and a ready smile. He worked long hours 6.5 days per week, and as a small child I remember being so excited when he would come home, coming in the back door, taking off his oil stained clothing and putting on clean clothes and washing his hands and face. It was as if the sun would shine inside the house, bringing warmth and light when he came home.
For me, my father created a container of safety. I could and did ask my father most anything, and share with him many feelings. Two of my most favorite times growing up were dinners at the kitchen table where we would talk about everything, lingering long after the meal was done and the rare occasions where he would take me with him on Sundays, when he only worked 4 hours instead of 10. I would ride with him up to check on oil wells. I followed him into oil leases, climbed among tank farms, went into derricks and we would talk and laugh. For those special times, it was as if he opened a door and let me into his world away from home.
My father was a man with a ready smile, who conveyed a genuine liking of and interest in others. He seemed equally admired by men, women and children. In reviewing my experiences as his daughter, I pay tribute to how much he shaped my view of men, men’s relationships with women, and what a father’s role with children. My father was not authoritative in the sense of bossy, abusive or controlling. Rather he influenced by his presence, his story telling, his ability to laugh at himself, his “code” about being a man and his modeling of how to live and be. He became, in the mind and heart of my child self, someone who was larger than life itself. From the child perspective, he supported my mother 100%. No matter what went on between them, to me they were a team. Always working together, supporting each other and granting to each other respect, appreciation and tribute and creating consistency between them with me.
………I am in gratitude for this opportunity to give tribute: …….to my father for his laughter, enjoyment of life, finding his passion, responsibility for family, modeling and the sense of safety and protection that he gifted to me and to our home. I am in gratitude and appreciation for all of who he was.”
I invite all fathers this day to give even more of a most important gift- your conscious loving presence and time with your child- they are the moments that help form their lives and moments they will treasure.For more info:www.beyourbrilliancenow.com
No comments:
Post a Comment