Happy Father's Day!

Today, we celebrate our fathers. I am blessed to still have my parents here with me. My father is that great story-teller and jokester. We share a passion for cooking. He ruins my summers with his hobby-gone-wild, gardening. And I love helping out in the garden, just don't tell him I said that. My best childhood memories were from harvesting at the end of the summer. But my dad and I haven't always seen eye-to-eye.

He is the strong, stubborn guy that has always tried his best for his family. Think of Gus Portokalos from the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. That's my dad. We came from two different cultures and there were many times where we didn't understand each other. He immigrated to Canada in 1956 from Portugal and he tried to merge his Portuguese ways with the Canadian culture he found himself. He settled in the Prairies where his kids only experienced Portuguese culture through food and gender differences. I rebelled against the Portuguese gender inequalities that my Canadian peers didn't seem to have inflicted upon them.

That was then. Now, I see that Papa R always tried his best for his family. We may not always agree but I will always have the upmost respect for all the sacrifices and struggles you have gone through. Happy Father's Day.