Happy BaBa Day!

I was probably 5 in this picture with my dad. A significant number of years have passed since then. Everything about me is now different, except for the hairstyle. However, the hairstyle is the most obvious change that happened to my dad.

When I was in elementary school, I was never shy about telling my dad to stay away from my school. I only wanted my mom to come to school when needed, because I was ashamed of his lack of hair. None of my classmates' dads were bald. He never got mad at me for being embarassed of him, instead, we had a talk about it that I still remember very clearly.

"Alice, do you think I want to be bald?"

"Of course not!"

"Is there anything I can do to not be bald?"

"Not really, I don't think so."

"Don't you think it is not nice to laugh at people about things they have no control over?"

"Hmm I think you are right."

From that day on, I started to realize that many people laugh at others, or are made fun of by others, over things that they have no control of. I also became more accepting of him meeting my friends... as long as he promised to wear a hat. : )

Notice how my dad's shirt has a front breast pocket in the picture? That is his signature look. Almost everything he wears, it has to have a pocket at the front. My dad has many pocketless shirts given to him as gifts that he never wears. In fact, pockets mean so much to him that he once even cut off the cloth at the bottom of a very long shirt, and he made a pocket with it to sew onto the front.

What does he keep in the pocket? Very simple answer -- pen and papers. He needs to be able to take notes at all times. I'm not very sure of why, but I think he writes things down to capture random thoughts or good ideas.

When my dad retired from the university he taught at for almost 30 years, his colleagues gave him a very nice, personally engraved Mont Blanc pen. He kept it in the drawer in his study and rarely took it out. One day, our home in Taiwan got broken into and the Mont Blanc pen was among the items that were stolen from the house. I called him the following day to tell him how angry I was that the theives would steal such a personalized, memento. In response to me, he laughed and said "Not a big deal at all. It is just something you use to write with. I have plenty of pens." Knowing that he was not upset about this was all I needed.

My dad is patient, kind, understanding, and most important of all, he always tries to see the natural core value of things. Compared to him (and the general public), I am impatient, mean, stubborn, and superficial. Having a daughter like me, he probably has no choice but to be patient, kind, and understanding......

It is now August 8th in Taiwan. The number 8, is pronounced "Ba", which sounds very similar to Dad in Chinese. Therefore, 8/8, pronounced as "BaBa", is Father's Day in Taiwan. Last year I gave him a Mont Blanc pen that he actually carries with him in those pockets. This year my gift is this article to the whole world (potentially) to thank him for being the perfect daddy to me, and to wish him a happy and healthy everyday!