All For Daddy

All for Daddy Henry Louis Gates, Jr. admired his father as a young boy, however he wished he could spend more time with him. “Daddy worked all the time, every day but Sunday” (78). This was similar to my father’s working habits. He would work all day from early in the morning until late at night. When he came home, he would put on the TV, eat dinner, watch the Laker game, and go to bed. So, during the week the only time I had with him was while he was watching his Laker game. In Gates’ home it was the same way, “Evenings, we watched television together, all of us, after I’d done my homework…”(78). My time with my dad and the Laker game meant more to him than I realized at the time. However, I was “Daddy’s little girl,” and I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could, even if it didn’t mean anything to him. I also cherished the time I spent with him on Sunday mornings. He would sit on the couch and read the newspaper, and even though I couldn’t read the paper well, I remember sitting there next to him mimicking his every move. He would sit with his right ankle resting on his left knee, and I did the same. He held the paper fully open with both hands, and I did the same. (

However, even though I didn"tmt enjoy sports, I did enjoy the time I spent with my father. Gates had similar motives for joining the baseball team. Similarly to me, Gates was also scared: It"tms hard to catch a baseball with your eyes closed. To me, my dad was like a basketball scholar. "That day he knew me, and he seemed to care" (82). Gates and I shared something else: the lack of athletic ability. Gates mimicked his father, just as I mimicked mine. That day was a milestone in Gates"tm relationship with his father. " He would smile, and pick up where he left off in his article. My father shared that same sports fanaticism with Gates"tm father. Each time a ball came over the plate, I thanked the Good Lord that the batter hadn"tmt confused my nappy head with the baseball that had popped its way into my mit. I would always say, "Daddy, hold on I"tmm not done reading it yet. Luckily for Gates, his dad realized his disinterest in sports after the first game. They could sit in front of a TV for hours at a time, watching inning after tedious inning of baseball, baseball, baseball (79).