Fathers from the Turbulent Nineties to Today

Dear fathers and grandfathers: I hope you were spoiled plenty on Sunday. Here is the second part of the article I promised you last week.

I begin by speaking first of immigrant grandfathers and fathers. These last few years they have been through hell, because they (who are experts at saving) now find themselves between a rock and a hard place every time they go to the market or the pharmacy. Others have sweated hard trying to keep their business or company alive. Quite a few have been robbed or kidnapped, and others, sadly, murdered.

Most of them have their papers ready to return to their countries of origin, but some, every time they set out with that intention, come back, because they can’t find the Venezuelan warmth they love so much (both in the climate and in the people).

Many of them, in spite of everything, have decided to stay here, because when all is said and done they feel more Venezuelan than foreign. And there are some, very fortunate ones, who spend part of the year abroad, but as soon as they get sick or feel sad, they come back to Venezuela.

As for younger fathers (between thirty and fifty), they have become true warriors. They fight like titans to find or keep a job (along with their wives’ jobs) so they can pay the rent, the school fees, the food, the medicine.

After work and crime, housing and inflation are the most dreaded “monsters” in their nightmares.

Forget the eight hours of sleep fathers used to get; that’s a thing of the past. Because if you count the hours stuck in traffic and at the office, and the time to be with their wives and children, I think they manage six hours by a miracle. And besides, these twenty-first-century titans no longer enjoy the luxuries of fathers of old (who even had nannies to carry the babies around), and they help change diapers, cook and clean (and they don’t breastfeed only because they can’t).

Thank God many of them can bear this marathon cheerfully, because they hold on to what their grandmothers taught them: “Son, ask God and the Virgin to help you.” And that is what they do. Besides working as hard as anyone, they ask God to keep them in their jobs (if they have one), to protect their beloved wives and children from crime, among many other petitions.

Other fathers have had to leave Venezuela, with their families in tow, and they too have had a very hard time. Some practically live in airports, waiting for the plane that will take them to work and then back to their families. Others are behind bars, living a true hell.

And to think that you see so many of them so calm. I deeply admire that, and I truly congratulate them, because they may be going through hell (and on top of that putting up with all the talking and complaining of us women), and they become even quieter than they normally are.

To finish, I will only tell you that you are truly exemplary. And I shout to you: It’s Worth It! It’s Worth It to give yourselves to your families above all else, because “that is your best investment”! It’s Worth It to “squeeze yourselves dry like a lemon” to build good things in a world that seems upside down! It’s Worth It to fight for our beloved homeland, because sooner or later we will see the fruit!

And to all the grandparents I say that your presence, experience and support are essential so that we young families can keep fighting and trying to imitate the good example you gave us, and still give us.

All that is left for me is to thank all our exemplary fathers for everything they have done, and still do, to move their families and our country forward. Truly, It’s Worth It!