Monday, June 21
A Father’s Day Card for my Dad
by Karen RobertI designed a few Father’s Day Cards today. As usual, I hadn’t come up with anything to give my father. What do you get someone who doesn’t really like or need more stuff? My parents are trying to pare down, so more stuff is the last thing they need. So, I decided that a card was the best thing. But what to say? I looked at the list of 50 Best Father’s Day Quotes which I had posted a few days ago, and the quote which I liked the best for him was the one by Bill Cosby, “Fatherhood is pretending the present you love the most is soap-on-a-rope“. Bill Cosby cracks my Dad and me up. Of course, I’d given my Dad soap on a rope a few times back in the 70′s…who hadn’t? I also remember some bright purple socks I gave him and how happy he pretended to be about them. And then there were the countless ceramic pinch pots I’d made him with the help of my mom and her kiln (hippie 70′s remember?), all glazed in various shades of mud brown. The card design suddenly hit me:
It’s true, whenever I gave him these things, my Dad always smiled his big, warm smile, and made me feel like a million bucks for being so clever as to give him the PERFECT gift. I remember one year I gave him and my mom a Cappuccino maker from Italy after I had spent a few months there. Again, they ooohed and awed over it and told me again and again how much they appreciated it. It took me a few days to realize that I had given them a cappuccino maker with the wrong voltage and plug. It wouldn’t work in the USA, but they acted so incredibly happy about it anyway. I watch my husband play the same game of appreciation with our kids. I realize that, what parents really want more than anything is for their kids to be happy, and every once in a while to hear from their kids how much they love them. With that in mind, I helped my youngest daughter design this card for her Daddy today:
I think he liked it ALMOST as much as he would have liked bright purple socks or soap-on-a-rope. I don’t have a kiln, or maybe I would have helped her make a pinch-pot. I know, though, that he would have made her feel like a million bucks for anything she came up with. Aren’t Dads the best?
That’s a fantastic card!! Much better to give a card with some meaning than something that means nothing.
Comment by LiveLikeYou — June 21, 2010 @ 8:37 pm
Beautiful cards! Great sentiments. I remember picking out peach and brown pjs (70′s style) for my dad for either his bday or father’s day. He oohed and ahhed though I’m pretty sure he wore them only once or twice.
Wanted to stop by to let you know that I have named you as the recipient for a blog award! Yay! You can stop over to my blog to see it. Thanks for being a great supporter of a new blogger!
Cate
Comment by Cate — June 22, 2010 @ 2:37 am