No matter what type of dad yours is, he's great

No one on earth is like your dad. Here are just a few ingredients that, thrown together, make up good dads all over the world. For Father’s Day, you can make this column interactive: Circle what kind of dad your dad is, and give it to him, or read it to him on the phone. (This will help you if you are a male, and generally talk about sports or weather.) Now, here are a few different types of dads:

Dads can be silly – my dad used to love Tootsie Rolls, and he would roll the wrappers into little tiny cylinders and throw them at me and my sister while we were watching TV. He would look away when we tried to catch him.

Dads can love the arts – my best friend Nicole’s dad used to sing along with opera at her house – or show tunes, or anything they put on the record player. One hand to his chest, other hand outstretched, he would hit every note in a loud, deep voice that would shake the walls. I learned the songs of several musicals subliminally (“Oklahoma,” “Pippin,” “Annie Get Your Gun”) while playing at Nicole’s house as a kid. I only realized years later why I knew so many musical numbers so well.

Dads like a good joke – my dad loves April Fool’s Day and was always on the lookout for a possible set-up. He also used to call us during snow days from his office and say, in his best serious voice, that he had heard on the radio that “the school cancellation was just cancelled.” We always half believed him.

Dads are patient. Some dads are waiting for a prodigal son or daughter to come home. They believe it will happen.

Dads are soldiers. Many dads around the world will spend their special day in a tank, a tent, or a hospital. And just like a mother, they can recall the ridges of a child’s fingernails, the feel of a baby’s wispy curls. They just don’t talk about it like moms do

Some dads live in homeless shelters. But they are still someone’s dad.

Some dads have cool jobs, and some just make their jobs seem cool. A dad can make a ride on a truck or a visit to the factory a real adventure you’ll remember forever. A dad will give you sheets of white paper to color on while he locks down his equipment, and he’ll make funny faces if he’s on the phone and is put on hold. His whole paycheck will go to the family.

Dads may not say much, but they’re there. My father-in-law once sat at in an emergency room by my bed for hours with a book on his lap. He never opened the book but said he wasn’t worried and that it was going to be fine. And it was.

Dads miss their own dads. Some dads kneel in front of their dad’s casket and look at his face, and wonder if he should have said more, done more. But then he thinks about his own kids, and knew that somehow his dad understood. Sometimes a dad’s wife has to help him stand at the funeral, because dads can get wobbly.

Some dads look more normal wearing a baseball glove on one hand than they do when they’re not wearing a baseball glove on one hand. My husband is this dad. His baseball glove is old and worn, like a good dad’s glove is. Of course, another kind of good dad has a brand-new glove – he’s going to start playing baseball at 40, because he wants his kid to know how to throw a curveball.

Granddads are pretty much made of magic. And each granddad’s magic is different.

Dads see the best version of you. They only remember the hits you made at bat, not the ones you missed. You’re not “weird” to dad, you are just creative, you are not slow, just “taking your time,” and you are “considering your options” rather than jobless. Dads like to work as part of a team – your team. 

Finally, dads don’t last forever. Call yours today, and let him know – you remember his magic. Tell him he’s still got it, and he’ll know that what you really mean is – he’s still got you.  Always.

You can connect with Deirdre at www.exhaustedrapunzel.com.