The 70-Year Old SkyDiver

My role model, the man that I take after, the person with whom I share so many qualities, is my father. And bless his heart, my 70-year-old father will make his first parachute jump on July 1st, Canada Day. Why? Perhaps it’s his unending energy, his fierce spirit, or his eternal showmanship, but my father, 70 years of age, is going to jump out of an airplane to promote his very successful multicultural festival, Abbyfest, abbyfest.com. It is so successful in fact, that it has captured the attention of the mayor and ministers of British Columbia, Canada, a feat rare for a newly arrived resident of Abbotsford. I’m extremely proud of this man who has shown me by example to never give up, to always work hard and to, most importantly, respect your family and fulfill your duty in life. Although I have never expressed it to him, his example and his teachings are the guidelines by which I live my life. There is not a day that goes by, where I don’t think of him and his life lessons. Even more so, and surprisingly so, I finally have come to realize why, during my rebellious teenage years, that he was so strict. I realize now, had I had children, I probably would have also felt as exasperated as he at my own daughter’s assertions. Perhaps I may have dealt with it in a different way, but overall and funnily, it sort of all makes sense now. My father, a man of eternal idealism, the beacon of my life and the foundation that gave me the platform to dream and dare a nonconventional life, is jumping out of an airplane at the age of 70 to promote his brainchild festival. Today, as a daughter, I feel dignified, blessed and beyond-words proud that my father, rockstar that he is, is going to do something that only the young consider, the brave do and the experienced brag about. My father, my 70-year-old father, is going to skydive out of an airplane on July 1st.