happy father's day: part two

Dear Boh:

Things your Gido taught me. Things for you to learn.

1. Invest in elbow grease. Buying stock in hard work pays enormous dividends.

2. Accept responsibility for your actions.

3. Stick up for yourself even when it might not be cool to do so. One day your Gido and I were having lunch at Saigon by Night (best Vietnamese in Regina. And, yes, for all you snarky On-terribles, there IS more than one Vietnamese joint in Regina!), and three late 20-somethings at the table next to us were dropping F-bombs like…well, like they were in Vietnam (bad, bad joke, I know). If I had the guts I would tell them to shut their pie holes, I thought to myself, but instead I tried to ignore them and carry on as though their cussing wasn’t embarrassing me. And just then Gido got up and discreetly did what it was I wanted to do myself. The reprimand didn’t cause the losers to re-evaluate their behaviour; rather, they chose to respond by throwing out yet another four-letter missile, though this time in Gido’s direction. But he was still a winner in the little war that day, your Gido. By saying something about the swearing he was also saying something about who he was. Comfortable in his own skin. Brave. A role model for grandchildren and their parents everywhere.

4. Take lots of pictures. Especially “before” and “after” shots. Because your Gido will want you to e-mail them to him.

5. Keep healthy. You can’t be at your best if your body and mind are ill. Sometimes it’s not easy to make your own wellness a priority; sometimes it’s damn hard, in fact. But if you work to keep free from all things toxic, everything else falls into place.

6. Marry up.

7. Write things down. Once a year, put a pen to paper and produce your plan. It is amazing how doing this helps you to achieve your goals.

8. Open up. Say what it is you want to say to the people you love. Even if it means you have to turn your car around to do it.

9. Always take a quick scan of the bargain bin when you are at the store. ALWAYS.

10. Break things down into manageable chunks. Learn to walk one step at a time. Start talking one word at a time. Get your degree one class at a time. Achieve your plan one goal at a time. Live life one day at a time.

11. Once in a while, make a list of the things you like about yourself. More often than that, make a list of the things you like about someone else. It makes an inexpensive – yet priceless – present for special occasions, such as Father’s Day.

12. It’s okay to wrap non-list gifts in newspaper. They’re just going to get ripped open anyway. (But at least try to use the funnies section.)

13. Lists are not exhaustive.

14. Love is not exhaustive.

Happy Father’s Day, Gido.
Happy Father’s Day, Dad.