I lost my father several years back to C.O.P.D. and heart failure. Unlike the previous fathers days that i just tried to ignore and get through this fathers day I am giving my deceased father a gift of remembrance. His body is gone but I feel his spirit from time to time around me and i see him in my reflection and in the face of my older brother and his son Jesse. So for all the years my dad toiled at his job to pay bills and was there for me and my brother when exhausted from work and his outgoing lifestyle i thank him. My father wasn’t perfect and many flaws but he did always love us. A alcoholic and workaholic he didn’t have as much time to spend with us. My biggest regret is I allowed anger and the bitterness from the problems between us to stop me from being there for him when he needed me. My brother also was distant with dad for different reasons than mine and he too suffers regrets. I am writing all of this not as much to face my mistakes and regrets but in hope that those out there with their fathers still alive will not repeat my mistakes. Just like my dad, other dads out there wont be perfect and neither will be his children. Forgive, forget and love your father while he is here and don’t let him leave this world with him or you having any regrets.  Let him know you don’t care that he isn’t perfect and you understand being a father is a hard job in itself.

To my Father Stephen M. Barbier R.I.P., Happy Fathers day and i love you
To all other Fathers out there Happy Fathers Day

Raymond Barbier