A happy father's day

Yup, don't forget to say happy father's day to your dad if he is still around. I remembered to. This is a first. I have reached the age when you realise that the old man will not be around forever, and that you will miss him when he goes! Don't tell my dad!

I have had a strange relationship with my dad, but probably not atypical for children of divorced parents. Once my parents split (when I was 6) I saw him every other weekend for about 6 years and then less often after I became a teenager. There have been periods when I thought I would never see him again through a sort of mutual estrangement :(
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A few things that I associate with my dad:

Procrastination, a fault I have inherited
Being too satisfied with little, materially speaking, a fault I have inherited
Moody (prog rock?) LPs - Caravan's 'Land of Grey and Pink', Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, Rick Wakeman... who could be normal being raised on this musical diet!
Cold houses
Frozen chicken pies
A horror of Edmonton where we broke down on a trip to the Lake District
Cigarettes - I gave them up after 17 years, he after about 40
Strong coffee - something I took up after I gave up the cigarettes
Custard creams - my biscuit tastes are posher
Donkey jackets

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We had a good conversation today. My half-sister has passed her BA with the same grade that I got - 2.2 - and is rewarding herself with a trip to New York. Her twin, my half-brother, is still enjoying his career with the lightning conductor company.

My dad told me about the local rich man he is working for. We had a laugh about him carrying on a conversation with my dad from his pool, while my dad laboured in this man's garden. "I must say, John, those cabbages you brought us the other week were abso-loot-ly delicious!" This man is a few years younger than my dad and speaks with a very posh accent.

And I spoke to my mum as well today. All in all, a very good father's day!