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| Mark and Chad Underwood fishing circa 1995. |
Father's Day is by far the strangest of the holidays when it comes to how to approach it. Mother's Day is pretty easy- you thank your Mom for the work she puts in around the house and outside of it, for cooking and being nice to you. It is simple and she greatly appreciates it. Dads operate under a total different dynamic. They do not openly seek credit for their achievements, they do what they do because they have to, that's it. (At least that's what dads used to do.)
Dads (and even moms) this day in age have lost their view on what is a responsible parent and what is not. I was listening to the radio earlier this morning and the show was debating on if this was a "father-less generation". It made me so sad that this could even be mentioned, but it is sadly true. Many kids in this country and in the world do not have their real father or any father at all to call on today or any day of the year.
My Dad and Mom split up when I was entering the sixth grade. Some days I would blame my Dad for everything and was very spiteful towards him and the whole situation. Other days I would blame myself, thinking that maybe if I would have been a better son to him, maybe things could have been different. I learned at a young age from a man that cares so much about me (my Pap-Pap) that I can only can control myself. When those lessons finally clicked in my brain, I stopped blaming my Dad for everything. It was not all his fault that things ended up the way they did.
Whether you have a "Mickey Rourke" from the The Wrestler (2008) kind of dad or a "Denzel Washington" from Remember The Titans (2000), you still have a dad and that is enough of a reason to give him a call no matter what kind of relationship you have. I have a close friend who's father has unfortunately passed years ago and I imagine he would do anything for a phone call with him.
My Dad will always be angry and short-fused. He will always tell me the same stories over and over again, like when he took a girl to prom and my grandfather matched all the money he saved towards it so my Pops would be able to go. He will always love the Steelers/Penguins/Mountaineers as do I. He will always work as hard as he possibly can until it is time to retire, then he will just be bored and miss working. He will always remind me of when I barely made my Little League All-Star team (that he coached) and I drove in a run in the only game we won that season. He will always tell everyone we know about when I was five years old and when I used to wear my vintage "Raphael Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" shell to a local pizza shop and basically tried to fight people.
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| Very blurry picture, but it proves that "The Shell" did exist. Dads in the background probably scared for what the future holds. I had myself convinced I was a ninja. My sister ruined the shell a few months later when she was an infant. She found it in my closet...and peed on it. |
He will always tell me about the car accident that almost got him and his friends killed and put one in critical condition. He will always tell me about the day he had to watch his dad pass while the grandfather I never got to meet told him to take care of "your mother."
Mark Underwood will always be my dad and I will always be his son and no matter what happens between us, I will always love him. I urge anyone who might read this that has a strained relationship with your dad to give them a call today. It could be worth more than you ever imagined.
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