THE POWER OF DAD

It’s Father’s Day here in the UK and I always miss my wonderful Dad as he was just such a wonderful person, charismatic, kind, thoughtful, funny and great, great fun.

From my Dad I learnt my values, my confidence, my tenacity.

From my Dad I learnt compassion, finding the balance in everything from studying, working,  to playing and having fun.

From my Dad I learnt how to trust men, how to be treated by men and how to respect myself.

From my Dad I learnt to be independent, resilient and what family life was all about.

My children learnt about patience, tolerance, people who cared and loved them enough to spend TIME with them playing, reading, laughing, going to the park, spoiling them on Wednesday afternoons when my Mum and Dad picked them up from school to spoil them with sweets, comics and ‘True Lies’ as my Dad had run out of true real life stories about his own life and made up wonderful stories and tales for my kids that they still remember today despite being 32 and 30

When he passed away on 15th July 2004 it was just after his 79th birthday and 3 days before mine.

I still miss him and he never saw me on the telly or radio or read my books – but  from my happy childhood came my passion to pass on some of that magic to other families.

To all the dads out there — today is a celebration of you. Not just for the big moments, but for the quiet ones too — the bedtime stories, the school run chats, the patient explanations, the shoulder rides, the silly jokes, the unwavering presence.

Fatherhood isn’t about being perfect; it’s about showing up, again and again, with love, courage, and intention. In a world that’s moving fast and changing faster, you are the steady hand, the safe place, the role model. Keep going. Keep growing. You matter more than you know — today and every day. Happy Father’s Day.