FATHER'S DAY

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(Text and photos by Maria Di Paola Blum)

The celebration of Father's day dates back to the beginning of the century, non the less it is not so popular as mother's day. This is so perhaps because of the fact that men are generally raised with the "macho" stereotype in any of its forms: the warrior, the chief, the general, the tough guy... until the little son breaks the myth by calling him "Daddy!" or when you hear mom call him "sweetheart". In any way we must admit things have changed a lot and every day there are more fathers who demand their right to paternity, and are not satisfied with the biological status nor with the "macho" stereotype. On the contrary, they go out of their way to dedicate the best of their time to their kids. In many cases this is a sort of consequence of having been raised with an absent father or with one thoroughly entangled in business who made him experience a sour solitude they do not want for their children!
At the end of the day children grow and they hold as something very valuable the memory of time spent with their dad, camping, going to the beach, hiking on the woods, playing in his workshop with the few things they "were allowed to touch" or picnicking under the tree planted by grandpa! Or, in the case of those living by a lake: the memory of the long hours waiting with their dad for the big fish to bite! This is what Javier Zaragoza a native artist of Ajijic still does at age 62. He came back from the American dream to retire here. I found him at 8:00 in the morning holding a huge fish he had just caught. He showed it to me with a big smile. He used to fish with his dad in the same spot. His sons remained in California but they come to visit him once in a while and still share the same experiences. Juan Barbosa, has all the rights in the world to be proud. He will be dad for the second time. Now it will be a girl. We must congratulate him and his wife Cristina for fulfilling the dream of most modern couples: to have a boy and a girl! Efr‚n Gonz lez, the well known muralist went even further and has three kids. He spends a lot of time with the last one, a cute little girl. For him, fathers day is every day spent with his three children. For Philippe Nowell, American, golf lover, and excellent chess player fathers day means fathers concern. He remembers how his father use to work hard in order to provide whatever needed, included the golf membership-card he gave him, and a horse for his sister. But what really hit him was the unexpected gift his father gave him when he was 18 years old: a ticket for Mexico! "I will never forget the great sense of happiness I felt when I arrived in Acapulco from Seattle: "It was the first time in my life, I saw a blue sky and white clouds I though this must be paradise!". Maybe that's why he decided to retired in Mexico. Now with internet the world got smaller. I keep in touch with my son through the net". "I always had a marvellous relation with my father, says Eliberto Velazquez, who grew up in a farm and studied law in Guadalajara University. Even when I lived in Guadalajara, I used to go with my friends to the farm and there I was always welcome by my father every week end, with a big smile an a six pack. It is a pity that Fathers' day has become a commercial feast: all the promotion for this day is made by the biggest stores, and it seems that if you give no present to your dad you don't really love him". "When I was a boy - says Paul Raza - an English man established in Ajijic with a Mexican wife and children, Fathers day wasn't celebrated in England, I grew as all the people of my generation, at home with mom. Father use to work hard and came back at dinner time. Times have change in Iran, declares Hormoz Moayedi,Irani, 51 year old. They started to celebrate father's day only 25 years ago; in Ajijic where he lives with his wife Cindy and daughter Natasha this occasion is good to share with relatives and friends music and food in good company, even if Cindy is from Guadalajara she knows very well how to prepare his favourite Iranian plate: "Joresh" a specialty with eggplants, she cooks only a few times a year.