Happy Father’s Day — Happy Solstice

Two things on the same Sunday this year: Father’s Day and the summer solstice. The longest day of the year, and a day for honoring the men who shaped us. That’s a lot of warmth for one calendar square.

I’ll say what I said on Mother’s Day: the quiet, steady kind of care is the kind that shapes everything. The father who showed up, regularly and without fanfare. Who taught you something you didn’t realize you were learning. Who wasn’t perfect — nobody is — but who tried, consistently, and whose trying left a mark.

And I’ll say something about the solstice too: today is the peak. The light will be long and gold and it will stay late into the evening. But starting tomorrow, the days begin, almost imperceptibly, to shorten. The peak is also the turning.

Appreciate what’s at its fullest today. The light, and the people you love.

The peak is also the turning. Appreciate what’s at its fullest today.

What’s a small, steady thing a father figure in your life did that you still carry with you?