A Father is One Who Carries Pictures Where His Money Once Was

I’m going to be totally honest with you.  Crow has a funky taste to it.

And yet, I’ve eaten it a time or two.  My largest helping came at some point after I was a married man with children.  I guess the Gods were easy on me, as I was blessed with girls.  If I’d had to contend with children as rowdy as my brother and I, this would be a different conversation.  I’d probably be telling you the benefits of lions eating their young.  And I’d probably be writing this while on the lam.

Luckily, I’m not.  But that’s not to say I didn’t have challenges with my girls.  I mean, children are children, right?  At some point, each child reaches up with their cherubic little finger and pushes your buttons.

My girls are really good kids.  Well, young adults now.  But for the longest time I’d managed to avoid the cliché sayings.  I was young, hip, cool.  Heck, I still wear shorts and t-shirts and say things like “rad” and “awesome”.  There was NO WAY I was going to turn into my dad.  He was a stick in the mud.

Wasn’t he?

Yeah, right.  I was talking about kids.  Those buttons they push activate all the hits, like “Don’t make me pull this car over,” “You’re grounded,” “You’re not leaving this table until you’ve finished your dinner” and my personal favorite “If Susie jumped off of a cliff, would you?”

Real winners.

So I realized pretty early on that my dad was right for so many years.  It hit me one night while I was up reading, and I suddenly panicked and became flush and wondered “What was wrong with me?”  The answer, of course, is that we are all inflicted with that incurable disease called Youth.  It affects the hearing more than anything else, preventing us from comprehending even the wisest of advice.  For most of us, Youth goes into remission and we are left to carry on happy, healthy and normal lives.  Sure, an occasional flare up may cause us to buy the neighbor’s convertible red sports car, but I’ve heard even that is temporary.

So it turns out my dad wasn’t the stick in the mud I thought he was.  In fact, looking back I recall more and more times when my dad was probably the coolest EVER!  It’s a shame we take those moments for granted.

But anyway, I was talking about the delicacy of crow.

Yep, crow has a funky taste to it.  But in certain cases I’ve found it’s an essential meal.  It doesn’t take long to digest, and except in some rare cases it doesn’t have an aftertaste.  Its nutritional value is unmatched.  It is really one of those meals that is good for your growth.

My dad and I sat down at the dinner table together, he with a sly grin on his face.  I think he may have remembered the place setting from sometime before, I couldn’t be sure.  I had a generous helping of crow while he sat and chewed the fat.  Nothing brings family together like a meal.

This weekend, both my children and my father are on my mind.  This is a special time in our lives, and I plan on cherishing each and every moment.  After I became an adult, my dad taught me a lesson in enjoying the moments.  It was a lesson I learned the first time.  I’m looking forward to taking his lead and sharing my life with my adult children with the same grace and respect.