The Father Lottery 5


Do you know who your father is?

Bing . You get a point.

Some people have no idea who their father is.

Father With Adult Son In Park-iStockphoto

Do you know if your father lives?

Bing. You get a point.

For many years, I didn’t know if my father was alive.

 

Did your father support you financially?

Bing-Bing.  Two points.

So many fathers don’t pay for a variety of reasons (can’t, won’t).

 

Did your father support you, encourage you, teach you, discipline you, and in all ways love you?

BING! BING! BING!

You hit the Father Lottery.

Earn Extra Points if…

  • Your father cooked for you, sang happy birthday to you, taught  you to ride a bike or drive and/or other useful skills.
  • Your father took you on family trips or vacations.
  • Your father took you shopping, cross-examined your boyfriend(s), or combed your hair,.
  • You have pictures of your father and pictures of you and your father.

The Father Lottery is like the Massachusetts State Lottery, you can hit for a little or you can hit for a lot.  All hits have meaning.

Have you recognized your father?  Acknowledged his love?  Please do so today (and throughout the year).

(Father, Dad, Daddy, Papa, Step-Father, Step-Dad, Grandfather, Pop-Pop, T-Pop, Uncle, Cousin, Coach, Teacher, Minister, and all Father-surrogates, I salute you.)

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers I know.

Related Posts:

A tribute to fathers – especially stepfathers

 Can’t find the appropriate father’s day card

 

 

 

 


About Candelaria Silva

Candelaria Silva-Collins is a marketing, community outreach and programming consultant; writer; and trainer/facilitator who lives in Boston, Massachusetts. She has designed and facilitated workshops on a wide variety of topics including communication, facilitation, job search skills, team building, and parenting issues. She currently coordinates the Community Membership Program of the Huntington Theatre Company. Her work as Director of ACT Roxbury was profiled in several publications, including The Creative Communities Builders Handbook. Candelaria’s children’s stories, short stories, essays and reviews have been published in local and national publications and she is an active blogger. Her publications include the booklets, Handling Rejection; Pushing through Shyness: Networking Tips when You’re Shy, Slow to Warm Up or Just don’t Feel you Belong; and Real Questions about Sex & Relationships for Teens: A Discussion Guide for Parents. She has served on the boards of Goddard College, Wheelock Family Theatre, Boston Foundation for Architecture, and Discover Roxbury. She is currently Chair, Designators of the Henderson Foundation.

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5 thoughts on “The Father Lottery

  • Donna

    I lost my dad in 1987, he was only 62, near my age now. And there is always a hole in the soul and yet I realize that I’m one of the lucky ones to have that tiny wound. Because I won the Father Lottery big time…. Thanks for the thoughtful post.

    Donna

  • Carolyn

    Oh my goodness, what a lovely and thought provoking piece. My father has been gone for such a long time. Thank you for making the point that it’s still important to celebrate having been a winner in the Father Lottery so I’m going to take this opportunity to celebrate my dad by saying; my dad was a man of small stature but of tremendous power, determination and integrity. Thank you daddy, I miss you and I will always cherish you; you were a great father by anyone’s standards–I’m a winner. Happy Father’s Day!