An Ode to my Father:
If you know me than you know that my
father is my idol. Since I can remember I have always held him on
this pedestal---which is so deserved.
My dad has done everything awesome a
dad could do times one billion without losing himself in the process.
He coached tee-ball, little-league, helped me with any sport I was
interested...and then when I proved to not really be a leader in
terms of sports he supported me in anything else I wanted to take on.
He just always wanted my sister and I to be interested in something
passionately...although he would never say this of course.
My dad is passionate, but not in that
sappy way that you would think. He is a lobsterman after all and
like most lobsterman I know they want to keep appearances with their
hard, rough exterior and keep their heart off of their sleeves.
(news flash- watch any lobsterman with a daughter or any tough Maine
guy in general and throw a daughter at them and watch them fall to
pieces.)
Watching my dad as I grew up I wanted
to do anything that he did- especially go out on the boat with him. I
loved watching the traps come up and how he would get excited to show
me certain creatures like: lumpfish, over-sized lobsters, hermit
crabs. I suppose this is why I developed enough love for the ocean
that I thought I wanted to be a Marine Biologist. My father was
really and still is really into the fact that I have a degree in
Marine Biology--- however my life has taken a different path and I
made the switch from that to Baking. Some may find it weird but I
don't. I always grew up with my dad who pursued what he wanted to do
over making lots of money or doing something he didn't like. I just
followed suite. I found my calling in breads, pies, and cakes- where
as he found his in lobsters and the sea. It took him awhile to get
over it, but I think he gets it now (plus I also inherited my sweet
tooth from him so it's really his fault anyway.).
Being on the boat with my father always
calmed me and it still does when I am freaking out--- I just think of
being out there with him with the dark blue ocean and the green
island and watching the colorful traps breaking through the waves and
I just become at ease. We would/do talk about everything and nothing
and there is never those awkward silences...there's just us and work
and damn hard work at that. I am so incredibly proud of my father
for what he does.
I could go on and on about my dad and
all the reasons that he is so great.... but really it comes down to
this: My dad will do anything for anyone without even thinking. He
is quick to lend a hand, he feels bad for those less fortunate then
himself, he will work himself to death before he will ask for help,
or say no to someone who needs help...
For every quality/personality quirk
that I see in myself or in my sister I think of him. The dry,
sarcastic sense of humor, the quick wit, the anxiety ridden worry
about small things, the instilled sense of hard work and equally as
much play, the love of being alone- but also the love of being with
good people, appreciation and love for the ocean and the overly big
heart that gets us in trouble.
He is a good person, who has just as
many if not more flaws than all the rest of us. He is not perfect,
and he is not normal and that is why I adore him. He said to my
sister once: “Why would you want to be normal, everyone is normal?”
I can't say enough, or even to him how much he means to my sister
and I and everyone who meets him. He may not have everything he
every wanted out of this world but he has two daughters who can't
picture what it would be like to not have him around, who worry about
him on a continuous basis, and who love him.. every flaw and
everything wonderful about him.
So on this father's day (which he
thinks is a ridiculous holiday)- I would just like to thank the
powers that be for letting him be Ash and I's father. We truly
lucked out. And in the word's of Mark Havener :”That's Golden.”
