Our Father

It's Father's Day! I talked to my brother today, father of my beloved niece (who apparently counts me as one of her friends and I can't because she's too much) and he lamented the commercialisation of the day. That it's just for shops to make some extra cash. Then he talked to our dad, after I'd made him jollof rice, baked spiced chicken, salad, Goulder beer and some cake. When my niece is older and she's taken after her mother's extraordinary talent with baking, my brother will appreciate Father's Day a bit more. His daughter will be able to show her appreciation for him a little more.

It's a day fraught with complex feelings. Absolutely no parent is perfect, some imperfections can never be glossed over. I think of Marek Kaszinski's father and everything he took from his son. Things that can never be replaced. Auden Garceau's father who procreated him and failed to lift a finger to help him thereafter; an absence that cut so deeply it allowed an evil to take its place. Lily Asare's father who drank away her inheritance and her way to escape her horrendous, handsy boss. Pierce Callun's father who's selfishness put his son in the darkest of darkness that he almost missed out on the love of his life. Mical Wentworth's father who brought such evil into her life it destroyed her entire family. The unique pain they suffered as a result of paternal action or inaction is immeasurable. Only a parent can hurt you in ways that last a lifetime and sometimes beyond.

But some of those imperfections are shallow enough to lead to avenues that ultimately bring happiness.

If Art McWorth didn't have such compassion and connection to his father, he wouldn't have skipped out of his mother's wedding and started an inevitable path to meeting Patricia, who wouldn't have seen a photo of him to peak her interest. Without his utterly useless, criminally minded father Rocco Mamione wouldn't have become a lawyer, wouldn't have talked Lydia Atta Mills out of the trouble she got herself into, wouldn't have got Luca Cariso out of Italian prison so quickly and worst of all would never have met the storm that is Anna Taylor. Those children are so much stronger in spite of their fathers.

In a contrast to the evil stepfathers, there are the ones that step into that role quite literally as if they were born to be a father. Wynne Jones' stepfather who became a second and number one father after her own decided Scotland was too much for him and his daughter wasn't enough for him. The incredible Durante Da Canaveze who took not only Rufus Harrison under his wing, he stood between Arlo Vitale and utter devastation without hesitation.

Then you have the unicorns - magical dads.

Helena Sarpong's adoptive father who gave her siblings, purpose, calm and safety. Liam McNamara who built a whole website to talk through sex education with his daughter. Gina Robinson's father who loved and cared for her after her mother passed away with such dedication he became her friend as well as her lone parent. Lonan who killed to protect his child. Madeline Mpoyi's father who got her the hell out of Rwanda with only one bullet wound to show for it. There's another one, but I can't tell you about it because spoilers!

Not all fathers are dads. And not all dads are magical. For those of you that have the later, be ever so grateful, enjoy every single minute with them and pass the joy in remembered story for the next generation.