One was my actual father - in the biological sense - and if you have known me for awhile he might be a new figure to you. My parents separated just before I was eight years old and were divorced shortly afterward. My mom relocated my brother and I to Ontario while my Dad started a new family in Albert. So for 26 years I have lived quite a distance from my Dad making regular visits a challenge.
Last spring I was finally able to visit him and it was the first time in 7 years that I had been there! That sounds crazy to some people. To others it is a normal reality of living in a heavily-divorced culture. But this year he came to visit us and that visit happened to occur on Father's Day. So I got to give my Dad a bona fide hug on the Day of Dads for the first time in a looooong time. And that was kind of cool.
The second father is the first son and my brother. It has been very interesting coming back to Ontario and spending a lot of time with my brother's family. My brother and I have been living at a distance since I was 19 and so my up-close memories of him have always tended towards him being the "cool" sibling to my "square" self. Now I get to see him in his role as a provider, a guardian, a husband, a role model, a father. I watch my nephew and niece shower him with the affection reserved for dads and see them quiver under the respect that daddy's discipline demands. I am very impressed with the dad my brother has become.
The second son is my brother's little boy and the only grandchild of my Dad to bear the family name (so far!). I wonder if someday he will be a father and if I will still be around to see it. So we had three generations of the male bloodline together for the day. In many families that might be normal but for mine it is a rare occurrence and totally worth celebrating. Happy Father's Day.
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