Anger management OR This one's for you!

I used to like Don Draper.

No.

I used to respect him. 

Sure, he was morally confused more often than not but I thought he was a "good" person. Deep, deep, deep down.

I was wrong. 

Since almost dying he has become insufferable. And very, very unlikeable.

First he cheats on Megan. Then he loses his creative touch. Now, he's disappointing Sally.

With Father's Day fast approaching (June 16), I started thinking about what it would be like to have Don as a dad. A man who puts himself, and his "needs," before his family's. A man who lies to get what he wants. A man who is incapable of true love...

If Father's Day is supposed to be about celebrating paternal bonds and the influence of fathers in society the questions remains... what makes a father a father?

Is it the fact of having children or the act of caring for them?  

When I typed in Father's Day in Google today I came upon this heartwarming letter from a father to his daughter. Two lines really caught my attention.

This one: "You physically have your mom everyday of the week, and I only get you in my memories. I've missed out watching you grow up."

And this one: "I am saying all this to convey as deeply as my spirit can muster that I need you in my life. And as much as I need you, I feel that it is equally important, if not more so, that you have me in your life. Please know that I love you and gotchya back." 

Waterworks!!! 

In the end I realize that fathers (and parents in general) are like everybody else. 

No better. No worse. 

Some make mistakes. Some don't. Some try to make up for them. Some don't. 

Time has yet to tell whether Don will try to make up for his mistakes. 

For Sally's sake, I hope he does.

***

The Grand Optimist, City and Colour 

I fear I'm dying of complications

complications due to things that I've left undone
that all my debts will be left unpaid
feel like a cripple without a cane
I'm like a jack of all trades
who's a master of none

then there's my father
he's always looking on the bright side
saying things like "son, life just ain't that hard"
he is the grand optimist
I am the world's poor pessimist
you give him burdensome times
and he will escape unscarred

I guess I take after my mother

I used to be quite resilient
gain no strength from counting the beads on a rosary
now the wound has begun to turn
another lesson that has gone unlearned
but this is not a cry for pity or for sympathy

I guess I take after my mother

Happy Father's Day dad... I love you.