Man Your Post & Be A Father To Your Child!

Greetings All,

I was awakened at 5am to the glorious sounds of birds chirping outside my window & my 3 dogs barking inside my kitchen (lol). The wife and children are still sleep, so I decided to spend some me time with GOD to reflect on what it means to be a father. Of course, I did not need to look any further than my Heavenly Father, who has provided for all my needs. However, my Lord sent me as a seed into this world through an earthly vessel called Willie Alec Smith (R.I.P. Deacon Smith), which was then implanted into my mother. Though the two of them were eventually separated and later divorced, the dude never left his post as a father. At that time, my father made less money than my mother and was still required to pay child support, but dude never left his post. I could recall my mother turning in her white Chevy Camaro “82″ for a black Chevy Camaro “84″, and my dad was still driving his vintage VW “Bug” circa late 70′s, but he was never too embarrassed to leave his post. As a matter of fact, because the VW “Bug” was so vintage and highly sought after, he made all of his children think it was the coolest car on the planet. I recall when my dad did not have much in his pocket, he still managed to do the best that he could with what he had. For instance, “KFC” was not as huge in New Jersey as say “Geno’s Fried Chicken” or “Churches” at the time, so he would get us a lunch bucket chicken special from Geno’s and we would go to the park to have a picnic and play all day. As a father, I now realize homeboy was trying to wear my little tail out so I would go straight to sleep when we arrived home. I recall my dad making simple moments seem like epic events, such as going to the car wash, supermarket, the laundry mat etc… He would be driving and blasting music from Luther Vandross and The Temptations…to George Clinton and The Gap Band, all while doing old dances to get me to laugh. Heaven forbid some sort of early hip-hop would play on his radio (i.e. Grand Master Melly Mel & the Furious 5 , or Afrika Bambaata)! Dude would literally come to a stop at a red light,  jump out the car to start dancing, and then would challenge me (like whatcha got lil man:) because he watched “Beat Street” and “Breakin” with me. We all remember how folks just broke out into break dancing any and everywhere in those movies, so he called himself poking fun at my generation, and it was hilarious! I only regret we did not have YouTube back then because he was purely entertaining.

A couple years later, things turned upward finacially for my father and he decided to buy an Audi 5000, but he kept his VW “Bug” as a humble reminder as to how far he had come. I remember a period of time where I just got everything I asked for…toys, video games, clothes, and money!!! This went on until I was about 13yrs old and then the “Being a Man” talks began. My father would talk incessantly about education, work ethic, how to be responsible, how to treat others, being respectful, and protecting those you love until I was purple in the face and my ears were bleeding (lol, kidding dad;). He decided one summer that I was going to work with him as his apprentice, so that I could actually witness how he earned this great money that I loved to spend. You see, dad was in the construction trade at one of the booms of the industry in New York. The first thing I noticed was there were no other dudes that looked like us on the gig. The second thing I noticed was that big poppa put in some long hours. The third and final thing I noticed was that my dad made a great living with his hands, but wanted me to recognize it came with its own physical stresses. I truly thought it was an admirable labor, but my father preferred I make the same or significantly better salary with a degree(s) and a profession.

You may be asking yourself, what is the moral of this story? The moral of the story is that it did not matter whether times were good or bad, my dad never left his post as a father; it did not matter what material possessions he had or did not have, what he could/could not provide for his children…he did not leave his post; it did not matter whether he and I agreed/disagreed…he did not leave his post; it did not matter how well he and my mom did/did not get along…he did not leave his post. Ironically enough, the only time I felt like he left his post as a father was when he passed away three years ago. However, I stand corrected because now he is with my Heavenly Father, so my Fathers and I are now one in the same and I will never leave my post!!!! So I salute all the fathers out there doing the very best they can (not what you think is enough:) with what it is you have.

Stand Down,

Min Kyle