Fathers Day

Alex Thompson B&W www.jonathanthompsonphotograpraphy.com

My Dad On Fathers Day

Today is Fathers Day. A day I’ve not been involved in for, what feels like, a lifetime. I’m not the only one for sure. Many others have heart breaking stories to tell why it’s not a part of their life. Mine….. just sad for me I suppose.

My Dad died of cancer. He’d taken early retirement after 40 long years of unsociable shift work at Shell oil refinery. He’d looked after my Mum when she was sick with cancer, steadfast to the end. He looked after my Nan, his Mother in law, right up until she was put into a home, with no regard for his thoughts and feelings. His Mum and Dad had already passed on. He was a great man, a generous man even if he wouldn’t see it.

Fathers Day, Alex Thompson garden www.jonathanthompsonphotography.com

 

He found happiness and remarried several years after being widowed. Then cancer came to stay again. Took him along when it left. I’ve thought a lot about him in the last few years, wondering what he was really about. I don’t feel I ever got to the man he was. That was over 20 years ago now, I was a very different person.

It was a tough year of loosing love ones. First my dog Teddy, my Nan, my Dad, my Uncle John and just into the new year, my Cousin Michael.

People will be posting photos of their Dads, some are with us, some are not. I love to see them, good, bad, out of focus, whatever. Some people are great photographers. They’ve realised how short life is and they have taken beautiful portraits of the men as they see them. I don’t have any of those…… I regret that….. I’d want to talk with him and listen to stories I’d never heard or simply don’t remember hearing. Treat it like the most precious portrait session ever.

Fathers Day, Alex Thompson www.jonathanthompsonphotography.com

 

All I have is a few dodgy snaps I took and the odd family photo to show he was here……….. From what I remember he was a trusting man, heart on his sleeve. A man you could trust with anything. He may let you down, break a promise, but only if it really couldn’t be helped, something acting out of his control. If that was the case he’d always regret it happening, attempting to make up for it somehow. You could rely on him, he’d have your back. He worried when things weren’t going right or someone was ill. He’d want to help in any way he could. He could roar like bear on rare occasions but mostly he preferred to be be kind and gentle.

There’s so much more to say about my Dad but I’ll spare his blushes. I wonder what he’d think of me and what I’m trying to accomplish. I’d hope he was proud. I’d hope my strive for joy, happiness, strength, success and to make a difference would make him smile. I’d hope he had some advise on how to achieve it. For what feels like a short part of my life, he influenced me more than I knew. I see it sometimes as I get older and I’m blessed to have people in my life who tell me I have some of these traits. I thank him for that.

So perhaps I have more than just a few dodgy snaps. In every photograph I make he’s there. In every friendship I build, he’s there. When I feel moved to tears or aching with laughter, he’s there.

This Fathers Day, pick up your camera, make some nice portraits of someone you love. Don’t take no for an answer. Trust me, when they’re gone, you’ll be thankful you did.

Fathers Day, Alex Thompson B&W www.jonathanthompsonphotograpraphy.com

 

Happy Fathers Day Alexander John Thompson… Thank you for being some of the very best of who I am today.

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