The most salient memories of my emotions from my childhood (before I became a terror) involve the love I have always had for
my Daddy. I can remember looking up at him and thinking "Wow, he is really the coolest man on earth".
He had a certain swagger about him always, one that made people want to get to know him. He never met a stranger twice and
he could talk 'til the rooster crowed (he'd done it so many times!). He is known as "Uncle Al" in our community
and is called this by the young and old.
Daddy has always had a special love for his family, not just his wife and children,
but his mother and siblings. I remember that my grandmother, only need ask him and he would do ANYTHING for her. He always
sacrificed so much for his family. All of my younger years, he always worked and he would work in the fields, or in the river
when he was off from his regular job. He was always hustling to keep ends meeting. He instilled in us the value of hard work
and always told me that I could become whatever I chose to become. I was always made to feel beautiful despite the fact that
I was a chubby teen. Even though he would tell me how beautiful I was, he always cautioned me to change my eating and exercise
habit because "the older you get, the harder that weight will be to drop" Boy was he telling the truth!
Anyway...
I
can tell you as a daughter who adores her father, it was a hard lesson to learn that Daddy was not a "mini" or "earthly"
god...I still recall that it was a very painful experience to come into the realization that my Daddy was a mere mortal...a
man. As I stated in my Mother's Day tribute I gave my parents a hard time when I was a teen. I still managed to have a loving relationship with my father who gave
200% percent of himself always. He would work 15-16 hour days, and come home and still have time to talk to me about what
was going on with me and how I should approach things. He still loves to make me laugh...and boy can he make me laugh. I think
sometimes, how is it that he is so much older and he finds that just as funny as I do?
My protector, provider, counselor,
teacher, my stand-up comedian, the first true love of my life, My Daddy.
Happy Father's Day to all the
good fathers in the world and to the best father God allowed to walk the earth...Algerene "Top Cat"
McKinnon Sr.
How blessed I am to have been born his daughter! 
