Father's Day Favorites - Stories Of Dad's Special Day
How do you celebrate Father's Day?
If you are Daniel Alvarez, you go out on the water — as he has done for decades — with his father, Manuel Alvarez, a retired tugboat engineer. "My relationship with my dad is broad and deep," said Alvarez. From the time he was a little boy and watched his father bait and trap Chesapeake Bay crabs, Alvarez has loved it. He bought his own crabbing vessel several years ago and now takes his dad out on it; down the Wye River where he remembers the "large trees that would hang over our boat. There were muffled and unrecognizable sounds everywhere." He added that he would sit quietly, glad he was with his dad. On Father's Day, they "will share a simple meal." This year, that meal just might be freshly caught crabs steamed in beer, vinegar, French's yellow mustard and a homemade crab spice.
Photo Credit: Caryn Coyle
My father, Charles Coyle, was a U.S. Marine dive bomber pilot in the Pacific during World War II. We spent one memorable Father's Day at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, an extension of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. A crowd of about 20 had gathered below the airplane my father flew in the war, a Vought F4U Corsair. It was suspended from the ceiling of the Boeing Aviation Hangar at the museum. The tour guide's eyes widened when I told him, "Sir, here is one of the pilots of that plane." My father was saluted by the guide, a fellow Marine pilot, "Semper Fi." They discussed Dad's squadron, the Bombing Banshees, VMSB244, who were preparing to invade Japan. After waving off the applause the tour group gave him, my dad searched the museum for the Boeing B-29 Superfortress "Enola Gay." The museum also houses helicopters, space capsules and the Space Shuttle Discovery, which was added on April 19, 2012.
Baseball is a passion in the Myers household. "My father is an encyclopedia on baseball. It is his favorite sport. We like sitting outside in Citizen's Bank Park, talking about work, the pitching, who's in the game and who isn't," said Davis Myers. His dad, Robert Myers, is a Phillies Sunday package ticket holder and Davis has rooted for the Phillies alongside his dad for years. Robert, whose father was also named Robert, would watch baseball with his dad and has passed down his love of the game to his son. "My dad used to go to Connie Mack Stadium with his dad and we started watching baseball together at Veterans Stadium," added Myers. "The Phillies are in Toronto on Father's Day this year, so they will be on my dad's big screen television in the living room and I will barbeque for him on the grill."
Dean Smith also shares a love for baseball, particularly the Orioles, with his dad, Jim "Snuffy" Smith. However, the Father's Day when he was 12, they did not go to a baseball game. "My brother, Brendan, and I forgot Father's Day in 1976 and my Dad was very hurt." His father was divorced from his mother and "when he came to pick us up that weekend, you could tell he was disappointed." Later, that summer, they went on vacation to Canada. Dean "hit a tee-shirt shop in Toronto. I selected a decal of Canada for the front and the type: 'WE'RE SORRY WE FORGOT FATHER'S DAY' for the back. He wore it everywhere and still has the shirt. It's also featured on our home movies of the trip with a close-up of front and back."
Is it any surprise that the New York Times is selling a wooden box for Father's Day with stadium infield dirt from all of the National and American League ballparks?
Tell us about your favorite Father's Day in the comment section below.
Caryn Coyle's fiction and non-fiction have been published in more than two dozen literary journals and the anthology "City Sages: Baltimore" (2010) from City Lit Press.
