Today was my dad's fifty-second birthday. As a modern thirty-something, I did what was expected -- bought him some books from Amazon.ca (shipped directly to him) and gave him a phone call.
When I write it out like that, it sounds pretty shallow. In previous years I've purchased gifts, wrapped them myself, made a custom card with a poem in it (using Publisher), then gone to the post office to mail the gift out myself. So why did I go another route this time?
Well... I went looking for a birthday gift for him in Grande Prairie, but my best idea was one of the books I bought him, and it wasn't available here unless I ordered it in.
The custom card? I used to make them at home, then take them to the Tumbler Ridge Library to print them out on cardstock. I knew exactly how to do it, how to pay for it, and it was a fairly simple process. Here though... I can barely use the Grande Prairie Library's big printer/photocopier, and I'm not even sure what is charged for colour printing, much less use of the cardstock.
So I bought my dad gifts through Amazon and called him. I think I redeemed myself though because it was sincere. It wasn't an obligation or duty I felt I had to discharge. I bought him two books I think (and hope) he'll find interesting, and I was really looking forward to talking with him on the phone.
In the end, I suppose that's what really matters -- the sincerity behind it.
Happy Birthday Dad!
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