AN ODE TO ALL THE WORLD'S FATHERS

My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
- Clarence B. Kelland

Father's day is upon us once again and unlike any other year I have decided to acknowledge the grace bestowed upon this here lad by a man that some could call stern, rigid or senior. This, I truly hope, will be my annual tradition.
What made me want to do this? I have no idea. Maybe it's the fact that my father lives a country away or maybe it's the fact that maturity is beckoning. Hopefully, it carries along with it a hint of wisdom. The reasons matter not. What will be written upon this virtual page is an extract from my mind. A view to the world of a child watching his father. What did that child learn? What did that child carry with him? What did that child emulate?
I was born lucky. I had with me a father and a mother (a mother is a bit obvious). No losses were made in the operating room and nothing was carried out that would be regretted years down the line. 
My father toiled night and day to ensure that what I had was only the best and he did just that. I was always in the best schools, I always had the best clothes and my home has always been nothing short of amazing. 
I remember as a child growing up and thinking how much I disliked my father. Yes, his stern, rigid and senior nature angered me. No, maturity was not anywhere close at that point of my life. I failed to acknowledge what he had done for me. I did not realize that he was a man who put it all on the line to ensure that his children were comfortable. No, to me it was all about what he said no to. That was all that I looked at.
Of course as time passed I saw my father for what he really was. He was not a man aiming to please but a man aiming to make himself proud. For his stern nature I started to see composure, for his rigid nature I started to see assertion and for his senior nature I started to see maturity which was something that I had never had. 
You see, a father is not put in one's life to say yes to whatever you want but rather to show you the difference between living and being alive. There is a big difference between being a father and fathering. Yes, if you are willing to do something for your father on Father's day then my friend, you have a father, not just a person who fathered you.

Appreciate that small things that your father has done for you because as long as there is no war, you are bound to bury him. Look back at all the years that he has lifted you up when you were down, when he has said you can do it even though everyone else said you could not or when he taught you that one thing that makes you feel like you are better than everyone else. 
Mothers are golden, fathers are platinum. 
My father may never read this but I want it to be out there. In a virtual world where all those who can respond and do something great for their fathers will do it. 
Maybe maturity has arrived and it brought with it a lot more than just a hint of wisdom.