I’m one of the lucky ones. Although I seldom see my Dad (too late to teach him Skype. He’s 88 and lives 4 hours away by plane), I can often summon up and savour moments of his love instantly.
Oh how he longs for my safety, health, and happiness as I do for him. He expresses his love simply, clearly, and often, regardless if we’re on the phone or face to face.
He catches me off guard sometimes because his timing is not during those special celebrations anniversaries, birthdays, Christmas, but when we are alone together, just the two of us. I’d like to think my siblings also have this special time with him, too.
He tells me he counts the days before I visit them in Calgary. And once I’m there, we would go for our morning walks on our regular route and stop in for our senior’s coffee at the Golden Arches. We always take a selfie before heading home.
Sometimes after a drive and I’ve dropped him off at their condo, spend 5 minutes checking my phone for messages, and about to drive off again to meet a friend. I would see him standing still in the front lobby waiting to wave and see me off.
In the morning, I would ask him how was his sleep and he would tell me how well he sleeps when I’m there.
We share the same love for and watch the Raptors on TV while yelling, laughing, and cheering so loudly that my Mom would say, ‘they can’t hear you!” which makes us laugh even harder.
I’ll be calling him today and we’ll have “our talk” which is a bit of a guessing game because he dislikes wearing his hearing aid at home. Nonetheless to hear his voice makes me happy and when I call today, I’ll hear him loud and clear this Father’s Day and also the next.