Happy Birthday Dad!

It's almost my father's birthday!

Fathers play a crucial and essential role in their children's upbringing and lives. They provide love, support, and guidance and help shape their children into the people they will become.

Fathers also help to teach their children about life and how to cope with its challenges. They are there when their children, wife, and children's mothers need help to ensure their children grow up to be happy, well-adjusted adults.

I gave my dad so many gifts when I was in foster care with my allowance when I was a kid for fathers day and his birthday because his birthday comes not long after.

He did not like one single gift I bought him. He said they all were money gifts. I was wondering why he didn't want them. A year later, I sorted my dad's papers for him, and I came across this paper boat; I knew it was mine. He put it in a safe, secure place, and I know I made it on one of my visits.

I remember and I said to my daddy, "how come you only saved this paper boat I made and not the ones I bought?" He told me, "because the rest you bought, and I taught you to make this when you were like four years old...this gift is the one actually from you." So my kids and I are making my daddy paper boats 🙂. My father and my sister taught me how to do origami.

I was in a foster home for a bit. Around that time, my mom had attempted suicide; I would see my parents during my visits, and my foster parents would give me allowance for every allowance. I would buy my parents tons of gifts. I mean tons with all my budget never really spent it on myself, and all the skills I gave them well, they never kept it a year later, I was snooping through my parent's things, and I found a paper boat that I made for my dad on one of the visits. It happens to be the only thing he kept, and it taught me what's important in life.

Ten things I learned from my father:

#1. Find something to fall back on; for me, that is GOD.

#2. Worship God every Sunday; it's good for your soul.

#3. Do daily devotions.

#4. Have a good character and a good heart.

#5. To respect indifference.

#6. I learned how to use a Braille typewriter

#7. I learned how to type without looking before most people even see a keyboard

#7. To ace algebra, even the best people at math fail at it.

#8. To always go to my bible rather than people because even when I fail myself and even when life fails me, and even when all the resources and people in the world don't make sense for some reason, the bible has the answers

#9. To always look forwards and never dwell on the past. The past can't go on or be changed.

#10. To love everybody even when I don't understand them because everybody is struggling somewhere at the end of the day.

Where do children end up without their father to support them in a supportive role? A father helps a child's development, providing love, support, and guidance as they grow. They help ensure they grow up to be happy, well-adjusted adults.

Fathers continue to be their children's advisors long into adulthood, and they lend a hand during pregnancy and childbirth and help care for the new baby afterward. My father helped my mom through 14 pregnancies, 1 of them being a miscarriage. Fathers also help to teach their children about life and how to cope with its challenges.