Cat's In the Cradle

A semi-local blogger/friend posted this ludicrously tragic (or tragically ludicrous?) tale about Some Drunk Guy who thought it would be a good idea to dedicate Harry Chapin's "Cat's In The Cradle" to his father at his wedding. Well, there's a ton more insanity in that story (go read!), but I'm here to touch upon the song dedication alone.

If you've ever listened to the entire song (and have an IQ above the average speed limit), you'd realize it is about an absentee father who basically gets his just desserts when his son grows up "just like" him, and has no time for him either. It would seem that to dedicate this song to your father, you would be essentially saying, "Hey, thanks for nothing!!"

But until today, I never thought it would be a bad idea to dedicate it to someone, because I always thought of the song in a different light. Whenever I hear the song, it makes me thankful that I have a good dad who was the exact opposite of the man in the song. My dad spent more time with me after my parents' divorce than do most non-divorce dads who live full-time with their kids.

And as I reminisce on a game of WonkEE(TM); stuffed animal football (or stuffed animal Americo-Chino-Taiwano -with Felix!- warfare, lol wut); Hot Wheels racetrack slalom; household game "Decathlons"; Pass the Pigs; never winning at Trivial Pursuit; my first PlayStation and Nascar 98 (complete with track sabotage on my part lololol); Three Stooges and Simpsons Marathons; "Mamie, Meredith, & Seinfeld!"; and everything else in between that I've destroyed my father's house with.......

.........to me, the song is a reminder to be thankful that I've had it better!




HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DAD!