Stunting Like My Daddy...

It took me over 20 years to understand my father. I wasn't privy to the one-parent household growing up because Anthony was live and direct, but sometimes I wish I were. My daddy was in my face, whether I liked it or not, and in recent years I have come to realize that in the end, his was the only respect that I have ever craved. This could be attributed to the fact that I, like most boys, wanted to be just like daddy. Daddy was my hero, everything he did was cool, all his jokes were funny, he even made me want to smoke (thanx a lot for that bad habit pops!). In my later years, prolly that whole teenage rebellion type of this, being just like daddy was no longer good enough. I noticed his flaws and in comparison to my life, felt like I could and would do better. So then I got to the point where I had to be better than daddy. Throwing aside daddy's mantra that hardwork always pays off, I figured I could do better as a white-collar worker, and pay someone to do manual labor. So I selected one of the hardest majors that I could because dad wound up in EE, but he didn't finish. So then I graduated, I got the degree that dad didn't but mom did, I upped mom's GPA by six-tenths of a point, and then upped both of them by going to law school and then passing the bar.

But then, came life. As I embarked upon the real world, I realize that even thought Anthony and I wear the same size shoe, I still can't fit his. This is the man that dropped out of school to put my mom through school, at the age of 23, and married her at 24. This is the same man that spoiled me rotten, and gave me everything I have ever needed, even to this day. And the older I get, the more I seem to understand him. I look at my short comings and feel like I may never match up to this man. I love hearing him tell me how proud he is of me, I never heard that much as a child. Daddy, I love you, and I'm working tirelessly to be the man you raised me to be, although its taking a big longer than I expected, I'm getting there. I only hope you get to see it.