Father’s Day

Father’s Day, I’m accustomed now but for the kids their first without a father.

My daughter comes up with a good solution to celebrate Dad, a pancake breakfast – once his culinary specialty.

Ken always said it stemmed from his Saturday job at the ‘Little Chef’ in his teens. Jubilee Pancakes were all the rage at the time.

For those of you with a more discerning taste I’ll explain. Basically they were crepes with morello cherries and vanilla ice cream. A bit like ‘chicken in a basket’ it was the ‘posh’ food of the seventies. I’m pretty sure only those of a certain age like me will remember them on the menu.

We had pancakes of a more up to date version, mine with Greek yogurt strawberries and granola. Very good they were too.

Sitting in my daughter’s the kitchen with The Jam playing in the background and hugs between three generations, Ken wasn’t forgotten. We all decided it would become our new family tradition.

The past three Father’s Days have been very different. Visiting Dad in the nursing home, never sure what version of Ken you would get, or how the other residents were going to be. We decided of course we missed Dad in the flesh, but our celebration today was decidedly less stressful for us all.

It was happy a mixture of sadness and love. Ken would have approved, we may not have had him in person but he is in our hearts.

Another ‘first’, potentially a tricky milestone, but I think we all handled it well, next time will be easier.