By Evelyn David

 

Fatherhood is
pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope.

I’ve always adored that quote from Bill Cosby. Over the
years I gave my father enough soap-on-a-rope to cleanse half the city of Baltimore. And every
single year, bless him, he acted like I had given him the winning ticket to the
Florida Powerball.

It’s Father’s Day on Sunday. But of course, we don’t need a
Hallmark holiday to celebrate the Dads in our lives. Both halves of Evelyn
David have been blessed with exceptional fathers. They were men who adored us,
encouraged us, taught us, supported us, cheered for us, laughed with us, comforted
us, and made us feel like our dreams were always within reach. I married a man
like my father and feel like the best gift I ever gave my kids was to give them
the best Dad in the world.

A DNA-connection is the least of the components of being a
good parent. It’s someone willing to put in the hard, often messy, work of
raising kids to be responsible, caring, loving individuals. My Dad traveled for
his job, gone probably three weeks of every month, leaving on Monday morning,
arriving home late Friday night. Yet, I don’t remember him being gone, his
presence in my life so very strong. What I remember are the weekly trips to the
library (no surprise, he loved mysteries!); the visits to the Baltimore Zoo (a
bag of peanuts for the elephants, mostly eaten by us!); and the birthday cakes
he ordered from Silber’s Bakery each year (my mother organized the parties, he
was responsible for the cakes!). I remember his “zingers” as he
called them – fast quips that were smart, never hurtful, and made you laugh out
loud. I remember that as a product of the Depression, he never spent money on
himself, but when he came with Mom and me to pick out my wedding gown, he
insisted that I buy the one I liked, even if it was the most expensive. He made
a pact with my fiancé on my wedding day – that they were both on the same
team, loving and supporting Marian. And when a short three years later, when
unbelievably he died way too young, I knew that the love he gave me,
unstintingly and without reservation, would be with me the rest of my life – as
it has.

So to all the wonderful Dads out there – regardless of how
you are connected to the children in your lives – we salute you, we thank you. And
we know that Dads stay in our hearts forever.

Marian, the Northern half of Evelyn David

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