Father's Day

As I reminisce about Father's Day, I think of my own father who died over 20 years ago. I always think about how I didnt really know him as an adult. I think how my husband is with my own kids and about my own parenting. As I was thinking about this, I couldn't help but have the words of Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" come to my mind. Cat's in the Cradle" reached the top of the Billboard music charts in December 1974. It sold millions of copies and earned Harry Chapin a Grammy nomination.

The song's lyric have been fodder for discussion for years. Even my own kids have commented on the words when they've heard the story -- or when they are missing their father when he is on a business trip.

The song tells the story of a father who is too busy to spend time with his son. The son repeatedly asks the father to join in activities and the father always responds with a vague promises of "soon." While the son grows up loving and admiring his father, he picks up his father's habit of putting his own family on the back burner. "My boy was just like me..."

Harry's wife, Sandy, had a hand in writing the words. Its a great read here. The story ends with this quote:

The whole point of the story is that we learn our lessons in life by making mistakes, by trial and error, by experience," she said, adding, "It would be great if we could learn about the future ahead of time, but we have to learn the hard way. It's like the old saying--too old too soon, too wise too late."