| I'm looking for a birthday gift for my father, who's | | | | knows more and understand better the quirks -among |
| turning fifty in a few days. Golden. I know that these | | | | them, technology- that makes my generation different |
| are tough times, and that there's always extra | | | | from his. Yes, fathers may stand as the tower of |
| pressure on the men who head our families, so I would | | | | wisdom but even so, mine is very open. He listens. |
| want to get more than just a "World's Greatest Dad" | | | | Well, how about a baseball cap? Something to shade |
| souvenir or a collection of coupons for neckties. | | | | him from the severe sun. After all, the climate here has |
| What if I get him a coffee mug? Not that he needs | | | | been very disagreeable. Right now it's hotter than |
| one. He starts every day earlier than the rest of us, | | | | summer, and I am surprised that the heat could be so |
| pet dogs included. He gets up at half five, or six, or half | | | | ferocious at this time of the year. Only the calendar is |
| six, or seven, but never later than eight in the morning. | | | | proof that it's September. Yet he toils on anyway |
| To maximize productivity, he usually skips breakfast | | | | -attending the meetings, taking the client calls, whatever |
| -but not the coffee- and that's why I wonder how, on | | | | else it is he does during the day- so that at the end of |
| that empty stomach, he can brave such rush hour | | | | the day, he can go home with a promise that |
| traffic as non-New-Yorkers wouldn't believe, and I | | | | tomorrow, no one will go hungry. |
| mean really wouldn't believe. Anyway: no, a coffee | | | | Perhaps father will appreciate a fridge magnet. From |
| mug wouldn't be a good idea, for he already has a | | | | the shadows of the staircase I have watched him |
| natural wellspring of patience, hard work, and caffeine. | | | | work on elaborate recipes like a piece of cake. He'd |
| Maybe a digital picture frame? I saw one online at the | | | | never utter a word whilst cooking, never sang, never |
| Philips website, offered at a very affordable price if | | | | whistled; he'd be lost in concentration, as if in another |
| one uses coupons. But I noticed that father kept | | | | world, roasting, frying, steaming, dutifully tossing salt and |
| Fujifilm pictures of me and my brothers in his wallet -as | | | | garlic chops into a pot until without warning the |
| currency for memory- and even though time may | | | | telephone rings. Or sometimes it's a neighbour looking |
| crease the edges of these prints and blur its colours, | | | | to borrow the toolbox or ask for Sunday newspaper |
| he'd still hold on to them as though these were beer | | | | coupons. In any case, father taught me the value and |
| money. | | | | intimacy of a home-cooked meal - sprinkled with love |
| A mouse pad might do him even better. That's a nice | | | | and served with affection. Aww. |
| little aid for when he works hours at the computer, and | | | | |