Real Fatherhood
Padrísimo (adjective) (colloquial) (Mexico) a. great, awesome
Padre, Spanish for father, is one of many words within the magical lexicon of Mexican slang. It means cool. Great.
¡Qué padre! You might say when something is fantastic. Now, when you say padrísimo, it’s even better.
As I wept watching Hillary Clinton’s concession speech the morning of Wednesday, November 9, 2016, my eldest son, just three at the time, knew something was troubling his father.
I explained as best as I could, though he didn’t understand.
Last week, watching Kamala Harris accept the Democratic nomination for Vice President, followed by Joe Biden’s acceptance for the Presidential nomination the next night, I wept again. Both of my sons, now older, wiser, and more empathetic stopped what they were doing to ask me, “Dad, what’s the matter?”
Again, I explained, and I believe they understood it. I believed, at least, they understood how serious this moment in history really is.
Hearing Joe Biden’s story during the convention bolstered my belief in fatherhood. Real fatherhood. In his voice, I imagined him being the gentleman father every child wants, as well as the earnest and stern disciplinarian we sometimes need. I pictured him being shattered by grief but being able to pick up the pieces. I also pictured him giving the kids a good talking-to when they were misbehaving.
I pictured myself. I saw what real fatherhood is. I saw that it’s never-ending hard work, and that the man doing it has to be honest with his children, and honest with himself.
That’s what I saw, and that to me, is padrísimo.
I often mutter to myself, and mostly it’s my internal monologue spilling out in spoken words. After watching the last night of the convention, I went to retrieve the trash cans from the street to bring them back to the garage. I was mumbling again, and my eldest son, who had followed me outside, caught me.
“Dad, were you talking to yourself again?”
“Yes,” I said. “I was just praying that everyone in our country makes a good decision this election.”
That time, he understood.
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Image: Getty via The Los Angeles Times
https://goodmenproject.com/families/padrisimo-parte-cuatro-btgr/