A great week, a great Father’s Day

Today is Father’s day. (A little history: In 1909 , Spokane, Washington, Sonora Smart Dodd was listening to a Mother's Day sermon. The lecture inspired her to have a special day dedicated to her father, William Jackson Smart, who had brought her up and her siblings single-handedly after their mother died. She could realize the greatness of her father and wanted to let him know how deeply she was touched by his sacrifices, courage, selflessness and love. She held the first Father's Day celebration on 19th of June 1910, on the birthday of her father. The idea soon caught on and in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day on the petition sent to him by Dodd on the acceptance of fatherhood. In 1926, a National Father's Day Committee was formed in New York City.

However, it was thirty years later that a Joint Resolution of Congress gave recognition to Father's Day. Another 16 years passed before President Richard Nixon established the third Sunday of June as a permanent national observance day of Father's Day in 1972 in the honor of all good fathers that contribute as much to the family as a mother, in their own ways. Even before Dodd came into the picture, Dr. Robert Webb of West Virginia is believed to have conducted the first Father's Day service in 1908 at the Central Church of Fairmont. However, it was the colossal efforts of Dodd, the devoted daughter of the Civil War veteran who refused to remarry for the sake of his six children and took upon himself all the duties, love and care of a mother, that eventually led it to a national observance.)

I got up at 6:00 AM as usual. Everyone else was still asleep. Trying not to disturb anyone, I sat in the back porch. Sipping a cup of hot, black tea I watched the heavy down pour on the golf course behind. The silhouette of trees through that sheet of rain looked like a forest through mist with lots of promise. A song came to my mind (“Snehe Aamar Sata Srabanor dhaaraasaare bristir plaaban aane …”). I started humming the song. Then the rain stopped. A deer ran through the golf course, as if she was trying to show me how fast she could run, or perhaps she came out to wish me a “Happy Father’s Day”.

I looked back. It has been a great week with a great ending. Last Monday our older daughter left for San Francisco. She called me this morning to wish me Happy Father’s day. She also stated that there was something in the mail from her and her sister. Last night our younger daughter from Tokyo wished me a Happy Father’s day as we “skyped”. It was Sunday in Tokyo already. Last Tuesday, my newfound niece (“bhagin”) left for Minneapolis. Today she surprised me with an electronic greetings that said,

Sending Father's Day greetings to someone who taught me things a father would teach his little girl...

Happy Father's Day!
May we have a wonderful relationship always - may I continue your good work, your thoughts... and learn from your life...

From someone who is like your daughter.

Last Wednesday my brother and sister-in-law arrived from India arrived from their daughter’s place in San Francisco. We have been busy ever since.

In between phone rang constantly from the inspectors overseeing my ongoing project on an offshore platform. The project wasn’t going well. However, we were overcoming hurdles slowly, but surely. Should I say the glass isn’t half empty, rather filling up although slower than expected?

A friend of my brother from their school days’ in India (who lives in Houston) invited all of us for dinner on Friday. Yesterday we all went out to dinner at a Mexican Restaurant. This morning after the Deer ran before my eyes I too decided to ride my bike through the wet streets of the neighborhood. I did this with my new niece only last Tuesday morning.

After a late breakfast, my brother and I decided to barbecue. It’s Father’s day and we wanted to do something special. Besides, he loves barbecue. Then our older daughter’s friend Corina Stoicescu called. She is like another daughter. Therefore, we invited Corina, her boy friend Brian, and Corina’s parents. They came. Corina even brought a present for father’s day (an REI water bottle that can be strapped around the waist, another addition to my running gear). Our cooking was a rush job. However, I think everyone enjoyed it. It ended with my spice tea as requested by Corina’s dad and Brian. I suppose they still remembered my tea.

We then watched a home video (converted from an old VHS tape) from 1985. Yes, time has left its mark. Our little daughters are no longer what they looked 21 years ago. The niece (“bhagin”) who was born many years after I had left India and whom I had never seen before is a young woman. The other niece at San Francisco is a new mom.

Life goes on. As William Purkey said, “Live like it’s heaven on earth”. I feel so blessed.