(C) 2023, Isaiah Jacobs
Happy Father’s Day! I hope you are enjoying time with your father or someone who has been like a father to you in your life.
I created the special “Father’s Day” graphic to remember my father this Father’s Day! One of his favorite events to attend was the Washington D.C. Auto Show held at the Washington D.C. Convention Center every January. It was three levels of nothing but new cars, pickup trucks, SUVs, mini-SUVs, and the like.
As a young boy, Dad would take us every year to the show when it was held between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Along with that was a trip to McDonald’s and a hobby shop to look for train models.
As I grew older, our trip changed as it was moved to the end of January. The hobby shop had closed years ago, and my interests had changed too. I would take the day off from work and go every year with my father to the new car show. After the car show, we would head to Tower Records, which had the best classical music CD selection anywhere. We always came home with our arms loaded with information on new cars and, of course, new CDs to add to our collections and listen to while going through the new car material… again.
As a man with Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT), those trips were challenging and often very painful on my feet. And, I would always end the day in lots of pain, never failed. However, I never told my father that. I’m guessing he had an idea, but we never really discussed it. I didn’t want him to know because the day always meant something special to him.
While we were never able to toss the football together or do some of the sports activities like other fathers and sons did. However, we went to car shows, went on steam locomotive rides, enjoyed hot rod car shows, and did many other activities like those instead.
As I’ve gotten older, getting around suburban areas like Washington, D.C., has become more difficult, and the pain has increased. When the Car Show commercial comes on TV each January, I think how nice it would be to go again with my father.
I miss Dad. While I have thought about going to the Car Show with someone else, it is a matter of distance now that I’ve moved to the country. And, it really would not be the same without Dad.
May you have a blessed “Father’s Day!”