Yesterday was Fathers Day in North America. I’m glad to be able to be with my daughter (above) and my son in-law, my son and my daughter in-law, and my youngest son. These are people with whom I have most direct relationship as a Dad. Fun to bbq some chicken, potatoes, and green beans. Fun to have chocolate cake with my grandma’s recipe for caramel icing.
Yesterday was also my daughter’s birthday. She turned 25. Fun again to just be with her, to celebrate 25 years of her life. She and her husband are visiting for a week in Utah, from New York City where they now live.
Yesterday was a lot of things that were more than chocolate cake and the sweetness of family. I found myself very glad to be in multiple layers of what is also real about June 21, 2020. And, glad that fathering, and familying, now include conversation and sense-making together.
Yesterday was also Indigenous Peoples Day, honoring first people of the continent that is North America. The land was not empty when settlers came from Europe. There were people here. The land wasn’t “free for the taking” though this became such a dominant mode of action, creating deep wound and scar that is at the core of this region’s needed maturing now. That’s worth talking about.
Yesterday was also two days after Juneteenth, a commemoration of freedom for black people in the USA. Though the proclamation against slavery had been formalized in 1863, its wasn’t until 1865 that a last holdout ground in Texas were forced to get on board with emancipation. Black slaves, in some cases were moved from southeastern states by slave owners to the less policed territory of Texas — to protect their “right” to economic advantage. That’s worth talking about.
Yesterday was also Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere. The longest day of sunlight given the position of the earth’s rotation around the sun, and planetary tilt that provides a solid 16 hours of daylight where I live. There’s celebration in it. Perhaps some humility. Perhaps mystery. That’s worth talking about.
And, and, and. Protests, not riots. Movement for peace, not quiet. Breaking barriers, not windows. Systemic injustice. Systemic prejudice. Systemic white supremacy. Pain. Grief. Sorrow. Anger. Compassion. Grace. That’s worth talking about.
We didn’t get to all of that yesterday. But we did get to some of that. And will continue to do so. I love my kids. And my fathers. And, what fathering means today includes going with and contributing to momentum so that we celebrate the simple beauty of relations, of love, of chocolate cake, and, the stories and situations and historic movements of our times.
All in a day.
