Celebrating Dad, Not How You’d Expect

So I’m wracking my brain trying to think of what to get for Father’s Day, when I realised that I was in the CBC building surrounded by awesome and dynamic men.  I figured I’d ask them.

I eagerly approached Steven & Chris, thinking it’ll be a slam-dunk, a no brainer -they’ll have something cool.  

“Um,” says Steven, “I have no idea.  Cook dinner maybe?” 

Chris shakes his head.  “I’ve got nothing.”

Can’t say I was off to a great start…

David Suzuki predictably answered “take him out canoeing.  Go for a hike.”

I add “play ball?”  

“Yes!  Exactly.”

I was going to ask Kurt Browning for his suggestions, but I couldn’t be trusted not to ask if he was getting a new leaf blower, so I skipped him and went right to Strombo.

George Stroumboulopoulos.

The hippest guy at the CBC.

“Ok, so I was asking Steven & Chris about Father’s Day and they had nothing.

“Nothing?” repeated Strombo

“Nothing, nothing whatsoever.” 

“Racheal, this is going to be really awkward for you: I don’t have a father.”

A moment of divine Strombo birth enters my mind.  “Really?  Cause I mean you must have had…”

“I was raised by a single mother.”

Foot, meet mouth.  And get used to each other, cause you’re going to be together for a while…  

Surprisingly, he kept talking to me and what he said really got me thinking.

“What I do know is that Father’s Day is really important for the uncles and the other men who play big roles in kid’s lives, especially kids who don’t have dads.

I didn’t have a dad, but I never felt like I didn’t have a dad because my uncle was awesome and there were always great dudes in my neighbourhood who just sort of took care – especially if you grow up in a lower income neighbourhood where you don’t feel like you have opportunity, like I did.  

Myself and my friends, we were a little bit more rugged kids, in a more rugged neighbourhood, and you don’t feel like you have mentors.   All of our mentors were our moms, which is important, but we miss this whole other part, you know this key to becoming a man shit that you don’t learn about, you can’t learn about, from your mom.  We missed a lot of that, so you pick it up where you can.  I was lucky because I had 2 uncles named Paul who were amazing, and this guy across the street named Lon, who ended up marrying my mother years later.  These were good men.  So on Father’s Day, I always remember those guys.”

This year, maybe we should take a cue (or a “Q”) from the coolest guy at the CBC and also give a shout out to the other male role models in our lives.

You can even take them canoeing…