What Is A Father
A father is a person who is forced to endure
childbirth without an anesthetic. He growls
when he feels good and laughs very loud when
he is scared half-to-death.
A father never feels entirely worthy of the
worship in a child's eyes. He is never quite
the hero his daughter thinks. Never quite the
man his son believes him to be. And this worries
him sometimes. (So he works too hard to try to
smooth the rough places in the road of those of
his own who will follow him).
A father is a person who goes to war some-
times… and would run the other way except
that war is part of an important job in his life
(which is making the world better for his children
than it has been for him).
Fathers grow older faster than other people,
because they, in other wars, have to stand at the
airport and wave goodbye to the uniform that
climbs on board the plane.
And, while mothers cry where it shows, fathers
stand and beam… outside… as they endure the
pain inside.
Fathers are men who give duaghters away to
other men who aren't nearly good enough, so
they can have children that are smarter than
anybody's.
Fathers fight dragons almost daily. They hurry
away from the breakfast table off to the big
arena, which is sometimes called an office or
a workshop. There they tackle the dragon with
three heads: Weariness, Works, and Monotony.
And they never quite win the fight, but they
never give up.
Knights in shining armor; fathers in shiny
trousers. There's little difference as they
march away each workday.
And when a Father passes away, and after a
good rest, he won't just sit on a cloud and
wait for the girl he's loved and the children
she bore. He'll be busy there too… repairing
the stars, oiling the gates, and in general
helping smoothe the way for others.
Author Unknown
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