Early in my life, my dad and I had a lot of love and conflict in our relationship. With him being a former Marine and well-known coach, he was not thrilled to have a gay son as his first born. While my mom sometimes used me to protect the family from my father's moodiness and anger back then, I think most of the friction between my dad and me was his disappointment from his growing realization that I wasn't going to turn out like him: a super jock, straight, and married. Now, I can better understand his disappointment, even though I don't agree with it.
In the last 15 years, my dad and I have smoothed out our relationship and we have developed lots of mutual respect for one another. So on this Father's Day, I celebrate my dad and the values about courage, integrity, empathy and freedom that he passed on to me. He's a good man.
No comments:
Post a Comment