My Dad was my main competition

There is one thing I have to say about my father: He is a REAL man. Think Ron Swanson on "Parks and Recreation." He knows how to work on cars, how to re-model a home, work on plumbing and how to build things. My father is the epitome of masulinity. Even though he stood at 5' 11 1/2" most of his life, people think he is a much larger person. I'm pretty certain my Dad could beat up most other peoples' fathers. I've never seen my father cry.

I was aware that I was expected to measure up to my father. Somehow, that didn't happen. I knew that things would be different for me. I had seen photos of him when he was a teenager. I did not develop like him. I knew I would just be this scrawny guy who was probably going to need help doing everything that his Dad could do all by himself.

My Dad helped me in my participation in extra-curricular activities. When I was in the Drama club, he would use his expertise to help us build sets. He said he enjoyed being close to me and seeing me do something that I enjoyed. He just enjoyed putting things together.

During our production of "Arsenic and Old Lace," a couple of the girls in the production were watching my Dad work on the sets and one of them said, "Fayd's father is really good looking!" The other said, "You're right, he is."

When I heard about this, I was like, "Really? The girls like my Dad, but don't see me that way?" That's terrible! It made me wish my Dad wasn't so good at doing things, so he wouldn't have to be around taking all the attention away from me.

I know that's not how it really is, but it certainly made me feel like I was never going to reach his standard of manhood. Knowing that I was never going to be considered as good-looking as my father always bothered me when I was growing up. It also made me afraid to have any future girlfriends meet him. They might like him better than me, and while they wouldn't try anything with them, it would make them realize what they did not have with me and go looking for it somewhere else.

However, I found out with my final girlfriend (the one who would become Ms. Ogolon) that I could make him appear less attractive by telling about how Loyd and I would frequently receive harsh discipline from him. In the end, it didn't matter. None of my girlfriends ever said anything about finding him attractive. I guess they all had way too much class to tell me something like that. (And trust me, many of my girlfriends did not have much in the way of class.)

At any rate, I'm glad I was able to become my own person instead of trying to fit in his shoes. That's the way everyone needs to be in regards to their parents.