Well, yesterday, Father’s Day, was supposed to be a day to honor fathers everywhere. But here in Chicago, some fathers were “honored” by being arrested for not paying their child support. A few of these men were really caught off guard. I guess the sheriff’s plan worked perfectly. Fatherhood requires certain responsibilities. And that’s why I had postponed having children until I was ready.

For the longest time, my mother begged me to have children. But I wasn’t ready yet when she wanted grandchildren. Two of my younger brothers had already made her a grandmother, but she wanted grandchildren from me, her firstborn. Ironically, I often think of my mother on Father’s Day.

And today, I told my sons what I had wanted to tell them on Father’s Day after we saw the movie the Fantastic Four, but I didn’t because I would have felt like my father. So, I told them that we are the Fantastic Four! Of course, they groaned as I had anticipated! That made it even more perfect! Hopefully, they’ll remember this in the future.

Today I spent Father’s Day with my three sons, and I really enjoyed it even though we didn’t do anything too extravagant. All we did was go to see the movie The Fantastic Four.

I managed to restrain myself from making a comment that my father would have made: “We are the Fantastic Four because we’re all together!” I remember when my father would pick me up to take me driving while I still had my driver’s permit. Whenever the song “Nice to Be with You” by Gallery played on the radio, my father would start singing along, “Oh, it’s so nice to be with you / And I love all the things you say and do” pointing to me. I mean he was incredibly happy to take me out driving.

Now that I think of it, I should have told my sons that we are the Fantastic Four. They would have groaned, but they would remember this day years from now.

Tonight, I went to the presentation of a new book by Marcia Farr titled Rancheros en Chicagoacán. Well, you will be surprised to learn that Mexicans vary in language and culture from region to region. This book deals with the subject of Mexicans from the state of Michoacán who live in both Mexico and Chicago. The host of the event was thinking of using the Monarch butterfly as a logo for Casa Michoacán since it travels freely from Michoacán and the U.S.

I arrived at the Casa Michoacán ten minutes before the event was supposed to start. When I sat down, the only two men in the place who were conversing in Spanish greeted me in English. I’m sure why, but they did. I, however, greeted them in Spanish. Somehow, they didn’t find this at all unusual. When some women entered they all automatically greeted me in Spanish. More people came, but the organizers decided to wait a little longer to give the latecomers a chance to arrive.

They started a half-hour late. Even the author Marcia Farr was late. I guess she really adapted well to Mexican time while living in Michoacán. (Whenever I have a party, I tell everyone that the party starts at 4 if I want everyone to come at 5.) I did get to eat and have a glass of wine while there. And they gave me a free T-shirt!