Some paternal musings
Monday, June 18th, 2007My children rather teasingly always say Father’s Day is commercial nonsense, which is undoubtedly true. However, I lost my own father at the age of nine. That year I did poorly at school and I was really quite upset and nonplussed about this, until a kindly teacher gently told me why – it had simply never occurred to me.
Being cheerful by nature, at no point did I feel disadvantaged or different because I had no living father, and in due course I acquired a stepfather. It was only later that I truly began to miss him. It would really have been good to have discussed with him matters like which university to go to, what to study, and what career path to choose. This was compounded by the fact that we look so alike. Somebody who knew him well told me that we even have exactly the same voice.
On high days and holidays, I wear a pair of his cufflinks, and I always wear his signet ring.
As a politician I am sometimes asked who I would most like to meet. Yes it would be fascinating to talk with Mahatma Gandhi, John F Kennedy, Napoleon, Elizabeth I or some other historical figure. However in due course and in the hopes that I shall not be experiencing the eternal hell fires or a million years in purgatory, the person I should most like to meet up with is my own father.
We would have much to talk about.