9601200155
DETROIT FREE PRESS
960616
Sunday, June 16, 1996
METRO FINAL
1E
MITCH ALBOM
Copyright (c) 1996, Detroit Free Press
HERE'S THE REAL STORY BEHIND DEAR OL' DAD
Here's to the fathers,
who always begin, on
the outside of children,
but looking in
Such curious men
snapping cameras like mad
recording the moment
they turn into "Dad"
Here's to the fathers,
who put in their time
who don't say to mothers
that's your job, not mine
Who wipe chins and noses
and never say "won't"
who do with the diapers
what some fathers don't
Here's to the fathers
who manage to stay
when so many fathers
are turning away
When so many run,
leaving families to rot
here, then, a cheer,
for those who do not
Here's to the fathers
whose big money dreams,
die in the corner
while their baby screams
And yet without anger,
dread or regrets
they comfort the child
hold it close to their chests
And as the child grows,
they grow with it too,
learning a depth
that they never knew
And soon they are older,
their hair slightly gone
chasing two children
around the front lawn
Or carpooling teams
to Little League games
buying them hamburgers,
after it rains
They mend broken dolls
and fix broken wheels
they cringe when their daughters
try their first pair of heels
They reach in their pockets,
but never keep count,
they pay dear for parenthood
awful amounts
They postpone their plans
to sail across seas
instead they sing "Barney"
and bandage skinned knees
Here's to the fathers
who miss on promotions
who forego the bonus
for birthday commotions
Who come home from work
and a boss they don't like
pull in the drive . . .
and run over a bike
Here's to the fathers
who get off the phone,
to hear their sons practice
their new saxophone
Who leave work to see
their daughter's recital
Here's to these heroes
who work without title
For this is a world
now full of neglect,
with everyday stories
of lives that are wrecked
Of fatherless children
who take up with guns
to kill other children
of fatherless sons
Divorce-shattered families,
childhoods derailed,
mothers still waiting
for checks still unmailed
You wonder what wrongs
these souls ever did
to make a grown man
turn away from his kids
So here's to the fathers,
who won't compromise
who see a light shining
in their children's eyes
And feel a rare glow
as if from a gem
and know that once someone
saw this glow in them
For all the good boys
they have raised in the world
for all the examples
they set for their girls
For all the loved children
whose stories they'll tell
Here's to the fathers,
who taught them so well
Happy Father's Day
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