Wednesday night I attended a "roast" in celebration of my father's retirement from the ER after 33 years. Almost the whole cast was there - it even sold out, so that supporting characters had to scramble to try to get tickets.

For 5 hours, I heard literally hundreds of people, most of them complete strangers to me, singing the praises of the man who, along with my mother, brought me into this world some quarter decade ago. And I mean PRAISE write large. I have never heard so many superlatives applied to one human being in apparent consensus by such a diverse (live) audience.

For example, here are some quotes:
"the most charming man i've ever met"
"as mellow when he worked as portrayed (in the skits) and so fun"
"kind, generous, sincere"
"laid-back, never phased by anything"
"compared to him, patch adams seems like the devil"

The funny thing is, I don't know this man. He is definitely not any father I ever met. It was almost surreal to watch them refering to this stranger (who incidentally looks just like my dad, shares his name, and was sitting at the table with me and the rest of my family) as this friendly, patient, massaging, caring, donut-bringing, never-get-upset, cheer-up-everyone-around-you type - the kind of person I would have loved to have had as a father, to have grown up around and be proud of. And, with all this anecdotal evidence, I am convinced that my father must, at times, have been this person.

But not any time I can recall, any place I can remember.

Somehow, on the long drive home, this magnificent, wonderful, compassionate doctor vanished, leaving behind a Type-A shell of a father, quick to anger and criticise, and definitely not abounding with infinite acceptance and love.

Anyways, I guess it's interesting to know where his positive energy was being spent all these years. Maybe now that he's retired, he'll spread the cheer a bit more liberally - at home.