Great gifts from my dad
Posted by: Tammy
As I confidently swung my axe into a nice log of aged oak and saw the piece cleave nicely into two hefty chunks, I felt a wonderful satisfaction. Over and over I swung the axe, bringing my logs down to a comfortable size for my little sugarin’ stove. My muscles were warmed up to their task and I enjoyed the workout. My satisfaction grew as I watched the little pile of wood grow by the stove.
It was when I sat down to enjoy a break and a cup of tea (I keep a little pot of herbal tea simmering on the stove ) that I had an epiphany. In teaching me how to split wood, my dad had given me a wonderful gift. Actually, it was more than just one gift. You see, my dad had never looked at me and felt that as a girl, he shouldn’t teach me certain things. He never once told me that I couldn’t do “that” because I was a girl. When we lived on the farm, he always said that there wasn’t a man’s work or a woman’s work, just work that had to get done and he showed me how to do everything I wanted to learn to do.
I swing that axe with confidence and with no doubt as to where it’s going and what it’s going to do. It’s been like that for much of my life: I have confidently moved on with no doubt as to where I was going and what I wanted. I have to be strong to do this work.
Dad insisted I learn how to bait my own hook and gut my own fish. He pointed out that someday I might want to go fishing without him and I’d need to learn how to “do it all” by myself. Over the years, I have cherished the peace and serenity of God’s world, walking and fishing the quiet streams and ponds of Connecticut and was glad to know how to do it independently. Not to mention, my boys think that I am THE COOLEST MOTHER in the world for knowing how to gut her own fish. 
Yes, I am a strong, confident and independent woman thanks to both of my parents but something deeper came from my dad. Part of me wonders if dad’s attitude came from my Great Gram who raised him. Gram was much like dad in that there chores for women and chores for men, only chores that had to get done. Dad learned to clean toilets, do laundry and other things typical of a “woman’s” chores. Sound familiar?
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