Written
by Farah Mohamed June 2014 ~
published
in The Huffington Post (Ca)
Studies
have shown that parents have a strong influence on the way their
children understand their roles in society. A study commissioned by
Microsoft found that female students are more likely than males to
identify 'supportive parents' as an important success factor (50% vs
37%).
Looking
back at the choices I have made, I see the influence of my parents ~
their guidance...sense of justice...work ethics...and generosity. I
see them struggle and what it taught me...and I see their sense of
adventure and humour and how it has shaped me.
When
you look up the definition of 'unconditional love' in the dictionary,
you will see a picture with my mom and dad (when my sister and I were
young), so every year when Mother's Day and Father's Day roll around,
I think about how to celebrate the two most amazing people I know.
This
year, we treated my mom to lunch: a nice piece of jewellery
and
her favourite gift...a drawing from my 6-year-old niece.
We
hear a great deal about how mothers empower their daughters and
rightly so! We don't always hear about how fathers play a role in
empowering their daughters. My dad wasn't always around ~ we came to
Canada as refugees and my parents had to build a new life, so he
worked a lot.
He
was also very strict. Now, with a few decades of wisdom setting in,
I understand that what he did, he did for us. He got me my first
job: at Mother's Restaurants...shredding paper and then crunching
numbers; this led to my first real job in an office...with my own
desk, phone and set of responsibilities.
Way
before I could vote, he taught me to care about politics. This
probably had something to do with the way my mom and dad were
expelled from Uganda in 1972.
Making
me read the Globe and Mail and encouraging us to be engaged in our
community led me to volunteer in the Burlington election for Paddy
Torsney in 1993. By 1995, I was working on Parliament Hill with
Paddy.
How
do I thank my dad?
This
year, rather than a golf shirt (he doesn't play golf)...
a
nice lighter (he no longer smokes ~ yeah, dad!)...
or
tickets to the Jays (turns out he has a better source of tickets than
I do)...
I
am going to do what my parents told me to do
if
I ever felt over-the-top emotion.
I
am going to 'use my words'
and
I invite you to do the same.
On
the occasion of Father's Day, G(irls)20
is launching an online campaign to showcase how fathers empower their
daughters...and how the daughters feel empowered by their fathers.
What
do Richard Branson, Quincy Jones and your dad have in common?
They
all have daughters...Happy Father's Day, Dad!
* * * * * * *
"DAD"
A son's first Hero;
A daughter's first Love.
(Anonymous)
Merle
Baird-Kerr...written April 3, 2015
Your thoughts and comments are appreciated...email to:
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