Information & Encouragement

A Father’s Day Prayer

Let us praise those fathers who have striven to balance the demands of work, marriage, and children with an honest awareness of both joy and sacrifice.

Let us praise those fathers who, lacking a good model for a father, have worked to become a good father.

Let us praise those fathers who by their own account were not always there for their children, but who continue to offer those children, now grown, their love and support.

Let us pray for those fathers who have been wounded by the neglect and hostility of their children.

Let us praise those fathers who, despite divorce, have remained in their children’s lives.

Let us praise those fathers whose children are adopted, and whose love and support has offered healing.

Let us praise those fathers who, as stepfathers, freely choose the obligation of fatherhood and earned their step children’s love and respect.

Let us praise those fathers who have lost a child to death, and continue to hold the child in their heart.

Let us praise those men who have no children, but cherish the next generation as if they were their own.

Let us praise those men who have “fathered” us in their role as mentors and guides.

Let us praise those men who are about to become fathers; may they openly delight in their children.

And let us praise those fathers who have died, but live on in our memory and whose love continues to nurture us.

~ Kirk Loadman

I remember all the times You taught me about Van Gogh and Picasso Turning gloomy days into starry nights The ground we walked on Transformed into a rose bed Saying that if the world didn’t seem right Just look at it like it was cubism Realism was mere skepticism Best left for business men’s criticism Standing by you felt like an honour My synonym for greatness, “papa”

Even though I’m growing older Just know that your son still loves ya For I remember all the times You took the brush and covered it with paint Using my body as the canvas Getting rid of all the pain Saying if you saw a tear then that just had to change Despite the power of the greatest constant Even with all your problems you stayed the same You made mountains to climb So we could eat sunflower seeds in the sky You made seas to swim So we could dive into everything that didn’t exist

Let’s make a world for ourselves without limits Saying leave earth while you can For man sought land but forgot about the sky Besides it was difficult being tough all the time When times often got tough, Although we didn’t have much We always had enough, living what we could Hoping for the rest to come, enhancing our lives With the power of thought, turning the procreations Of our imaginations into full bodies of existence Art was our proclamation And our pride for it was contagious We both felt real life was outrageous Uniting in our spontaneous combustions Eruptions melting away evil’s corruption For we live till kingdom come When no kingdom will ever come Or even succumb to the one we’re on He played the strings and I sang the song

Dear father Although you haven’t been around I dedicate this prose to you And all the things you didn’t do Like teach me more than school Or school to teach others About what mothers couldn’t say Or the things money will never pay Instead you gave me something better You gave me the power of art.

Dear Grandpa,
I remember the first time you called me Zanyu. I was 8, and I cried hysterically because I had no idea what it meant, And why you called me that, but you did. Later, did I find out what beauty the word had behind it, And how it would change me forever.

Being 8, and living 5000 miles away from you, It was hard understanding the concept of why you couldn’t remember my mother’s name.
It was the first time I learned what Alzheimer’s meant.

I’m shaking, reminiscing about the days where you would carry me in your arms and hug me, now You’re nothing but bones covered in flesh lying on you death bed, Slowly forgetting each memory lived, It puts scars into my broken heart wondering if this might be the last time I see you.

It’s been 7 years. You seem to have forgotten who everyone is. I remember walking up to you, Scared that you might forget who I am, but you did the unexpected.

You looked me in the eyes and said “Zanyu I’ve missed you, Zanyu I’ve missed you, Zanyu where were you?” It hits you hard like a BANG…. Bullet.

He is the cure to my pain, he’s my nostalgic moment, But when throws the question “where were you…” you lose sense of your feelings. The only thing that runs through my mind were the days I had to feed him Because he was too weak to eat on his own, The nights, I stayed up, listening to him talk to to non –existing masses of nothing And the moments when he pauses are the moment where —

Je pense que je l’aime le silence mais, I think I fall in love with the silence, He calls me to his room “Zanyu, I’ve missed you, Zanyu I’ve missed you.” He forgets the fact that’s he’s been repeating the same phrase, 20 times in a row.
He now lives in his own state of mind, lost forever.

That was the last time I saw him.
If I could have the chance to see him once more, It would be a dream come true because my dreams usually drift apart, making me lose my sanity so damn this labyrinth of endless games, But he, is no game to me, he, is more of an example, a figure of what I want to be.
He, taught me the wonders of kindness and morality. He, has taught me that love is strong, no matter how far away you are, In spite of the distance we will always be close because blood is always thicker than water, and Living 5000 miles away puts a toll on things.

I see Toronto as my lover. Her breath smelled like chocolates and cigarettes and she, is always mine to keep. She, is my mistress, Guided me through years of sorrow and grief, but it never was enough.

Her beautiful scenery and mystic relations is the only strand of hope that blinds me from leaving her.

Toronto, may be my home of heartbreaks and settle moments, But home is nowhere without him.

Childrens Programs in Toronto

Toronto Children’s Services – Children’s Services manages a child care services in Toronto.
After-School Recreation Care (ARC) – City of Toronto after school programs
High Five – Parks and Recreation Ontario’s quality standards for children’s sport and recreation.

Childrens Health, Safety and Wellbeing

About Kids Health – Hospital for Sick Children
The Canadian Pediatric Society – The Canadian Paediatric Society is the national association of paediatricians, committed to working together to advance the health of children and youth by nurturing excellence in health care, advocacy, education, research and support of its membership.
Public Health Agency of Canada – Health and safety resources for Canadians
at-risk.org – A resource for parents and the general public for helping at-risk youth.