Dad

I have missed Father's Day every year for the last six years. I miss it because six years ago, I volunteered to take part in an event that has both humbled and strengthened me as a person. I spend one week out of the year in one of my favorite places on this planet, and I have the support of one of my favorite people the whole way.

I go to camp.

Because it is located basically in the middle of no where, you can assume correctly that there is no cell phone service. So every year of those six years, I find myself searching for a spot that will give me a minimal amount of service to call my dad. As always, I tell him that I am sorry that I cannot see him on Father's Day, and like clockwork, he answers,

"It's okay. They need you more than I do right now."

My mom tells this story about meeting my dad for the first time. Let's just say it didn't go well. I have always put my dad on this pedestal of sorts, and I know that it is higher than it probably should be. So it is particularly hard for me to hear about how selfish or arrogant my father was at one point in his life. I have accepted it, and despite what I know of him now, I believe it. But, lucky for the world, he changed his ways.

Mom could probably take credit for that one.

I have only ever known the giving, nurturing side of my father. I owe my witty humor and winning personality to him, but there are so many things he has given me that he probably never thought I would inherit or notice. Like the way he can sit in silence with someone without needing to fill the space with noise, or the easy way he can fill a room with laughter by just saying one thing. Or how he can watch the same movie over and over without a thought.

Or how he can say something that makes you feel like you are doing the right thing.

I owe so very much to each of my parents, and they have both given me an equal number of traits I hold dear. They teach me every day what a struggle it is to be a human, but what a wonderful life you can lead when you overcome those obstacles. But my dad has this amazing ability with one-liners, and I'm not talking about comically. We all know he can do that. What I mean is that we can be having a casual conversation, and in the blink of an eye, he will say something that stops me in my tracks.

It makes me so thankful that he is my dad.

I am a counselor at a camp for children with cancer. I have learned to react a certain way when people find this out. I never want pity, and I honestly do camp because it makes me happy. Sure, it is sad, and I do wonder sometimes how I will ever get through that week, but I always do. I do because I grew up in a household that gave until there was nothing else to give. I get through the week because my dad tells me every year that they need me more. My dad, once so self-absorbed, has taught me one of my greatest lessons in life.

He taught me how to be selfless.

Happy Father's Day, Dad!