Back in the day my father in law called himself The Player. Now he is The Legend and today’s Father’s Day is all about him.
He is not in good shape. He suffered a heart attack two years ago during hip replacement surgery and there has been a slow and steady decline. His heart is working at less than 30 percent capacity and he sleeps a lot. He will fall asleep on you in a heart beat.
Today we will drive up to East Lansing for dinner with The Legend. We will talk and share laughs and I am betting that seeing his grand kids is the best present we can give him. He has had a lot of things in life. My fear is the one thing he does not have a lot of is time.
“I can see the light at the end of the tunnel,” he told me the other day. “And that light is heaven.”
The Legend raised five children and they’ve all become successful. He ruled with a strict hand but filled that hand with love. I remember when I told him I wanted to marry his daughter Abs, he got choked up. I don’t know if it was because he was happy for her or realized all the torment she’d have marrying a silly guy like me.
People around Michigan State University know him as the guy with the thundering voice. He sounds like James Earl Jones — just louder. The voice is still there. His memories of growing up in Cleveland and his days at Ohio State and Michigan State are still there. He is a good dude, the kind of guy that everybody loves.
There is no gift I can give him but friendship and the kids. We know he loves his grand children and their warmth and love is all we can give him now. Even though I am a father of two, this Father’s Day is not about me. It is about The Legend.
Happy Father’s Day.