It’s Father’s Day. Happy Father’s Day to all of you dads!

It occurs to me to maybe write something about my father. There’s a lot I could say, but I’ll settle on the most unexpected conversation I ever had with him. He had retired early, on disability, because of a heart condition – you know, like quadruple valve replacement. He miraculously survived. My mother was still working, so Dad took over some of the household chores. Like cooking.

That was quite a shock. It was so unlike this heavy equipment operator for whom dinner was always meat, potato and maybe some basic vegetable. Dinner was always on the table when he came up the sidewalk tired after a long, hard day in the hot Phoenix sun. No casseroles. No stews. No fancy new recipes. Just straight up meat and potatoes. No one ever suspected that he would have the culinary skill that fed the family quite well in his later years. Who woulda thought? Proudly, I can tell you that he turned out to be quite a good cook. He made the best green chile burritos! And he learned to really appreciate a good casserole or soup once he was the one to do the cooking. We began to swap recipes. I would smile every time because I never ever imagined that one day we would do that.

Then one day while I was visiting, we sat in the kitchen and he put his elbow on the table, rested his chin on his cupped hand and said to me, “You know, I really don’t mind the cooking so much. It’s just having to decide what to cook every day! That’s really hard.”

“I know!” I responded, laughing inside. What a kick to be having such a traditionally female conversation with Dad! It was extra special – fun to get to see this side of my father, and also to admire how bravely he moved out of his comfort zone to take on a new role. We found out he was really quite good at it.

He’s been gone for a number of years now, but I’m still proud of him. And, it makes me think about what jumps I might make out of my comfort zone now that I’m the age he was when he learned to cook. Where could such bravery lead me? What unlikely new role might be waiting for me? What joy might I find there? I think I’ll keep watch for opportunities this week. Maybe you will, too.  If so, let me know what you find.