Happy Father's Day

When I was eight, I got into a fight at school.

I punched him in the nose. Principal called my father from home.

He came. He walked into the principal’s office.

He listened quietly as they spoke. Then he looked at me.

“Did you throw the first punch?”

“No,” I mumbled.

“Then we’re good.”

On the way home, he bought me a chocolate milkshake and taught me how to throw a proper punch.

“Use your hips,” he said. “And never aim to hurt. Just to stop them.”

At thirteen, when school held its ‘Fathers and Daughters’ day...

I almost didn’t go. But he walked in wearing my favorite blue shirt, slightly too big, hair tucked under a cap. They didn’t say much. Just smiled and said, “I hope I pass as cool enough.”

When I was sixteen, I got my first period in the middle of P.E.

I called him, panicked. He didn’t flinch. He brought fresh clothes, pads, chocolate, and a pep talk:

“Walk back in there like nothing happened. Blood means strength.”

When I was seventeen, I failed my driver’s test.

I threw the keys on the ground and said, “I’m just not meant for this.”

He picked them up, handed them back.

“No child of mine quits. Not before the third try.”

On the fourth try, I passed.

When I was 20, I cried over my first heartbreak.

I didn’t have to explain the tears. I was handed headphones, hot tea, and a silence that felt like a hug. Later, he said, “Anyone can make promises. Few stay long enough to keep them.”

He never gave long lectures. He taught by showing.

Woke up at 5am, fixed leaky faucets, filled government forms, argued with the electricity board, drove long hours in the rain.

When I asked him once how he managed it all alone, He said,

“I’m not alone. I have you. And I had to be two people, didn’t I?”

I thought I understood then. But I didn’t. Not fully. Not until today.

Today, I watched him help my son tie his shoelaces and tell him it’s okay to cry, but never okay to give up. Today, I saw the strength that raised me… raise him.

So today, I write this letter.

To the one who taught me how to fight, how to forgive, and how to find joy in being enough.

You never tried to replace anyone. You just became everything.

Happy Father’s Day, Ma.

You wore both shoes and never once let them slip.

-Luvv A Sanwal

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