What is a Father?

My family is close, and has always been. My parents have been married, happily I hope, for the last twenty five years. I’m the oldest of their three children.

Being the oldest, I’ve always felt a sense of responsibility towards my siblings. Not as a parent, not at all. But as the oldest, the one following them on our bikes and standing below the climbing frame.

My dad’s always been the one we went to for help.

Mom’s there all the time, she works at a school, so it was rare she wasn’t there when we needed something. Dad works until 6pm most days. Still does now, years later, when we’re all grown up.

He always knew what we’d been up to that day. We didn’t need to tell him; he already knew everything that happened. We thought he was psychic or something. Obviously, being kids raised in the early 2000s, we didn’t understand texting. Or how whatever we told our mom about school, he would know before we even pulled the door open.

My dad is the best.

He’s the one we go to if we’re having trouble with someone, or with our cars. I don’t know anything about cars, no matter how much people try to explain them to me. It goes in one ear and out the other.

Dad deals with everything, and doesn’t fuss about it. Not much, not really. Not anywhere near as much as the rest of us do.

He’ll be late to work to make sure we get to our jobs safely. He’ll leave at the drop of a hat to come to our aid. There’s nothing negative I could possibly think to say about him.

Lots of people I know have divorced parents, or their dad isn’t around much to have a relationship with. I never realised how lucky I am until a few months ago, when my friend told me about how excited she was to see her dad for a weekend. That was the longest time she’d seen him in a year.

I’m lucky on so many levels for who my parents are. I want to be a writer, my sister wants to go into animation, and my brother is looking at an internship with LEGO. We’re not doctors, or teachers. We like creative things, enjoy our hobbies, and want careers in them.

Dad hasn’t ever discouraged me from following my dreams. My high school best friend wanted to be an actor, but her parents didn’t let her take Drama as a subject. She’s training to be a nurse at University at the moment, and isn’t enjoying it as much as they want her to.

My dad was the first to let me pick out books in the store. We’ll go there first, so I can walk around reading it while he gets the rest of the shopping together. He doesn’t make fun of me taking a book to the corner shop, or in the car just in case we stop. He even built bookshelves all the way around my bedroom window, so I could display them instead of piling them under the bed.

He knows the right things to say, even if we don’t want to hear them.

From piggy backs when I was a toddler, to making housed from TV boxes, my dad is the best man in the world.

To me, he is everything.

Mechanic. Builder. Taxi. Chef. Bank. Bodyguard. Personal shopper. Councelor. Decorator. Boss.

Listener. Encourager. Protector. Friend. Teacher. Leader.

My Father. My Dad.