Ice Cream for the Soul

My dad passed away last year and this will be the first time where my family will celebrate Father’s Day without him. He will always be on our mind and in our hearts and to honor him this Father’s Day, I am having a big bowl of ice cream.

My dad loved ice cream. So much in fact that when my mom was pregnant with my oldest sister and was experiencing labor pains, he stopped the car to buy her some ice cream. During his last days on this earth, one of the last things he ate was ice cream.

I remember one day when I was in high school, I was sitting in the kitchen with my head on the table. I had a terrible, pounding headache. My dad walked into the kitchen, saw me in my misery and asked “Que pasa mijita?” (What’s the matter my child?) With my head buried in my hands, I said “I have a terrible headache.” So he said to me, “I have just the thing to fix that.” And a minute later, with a grin from ear to ear, he handed me a bowl of ice cream and said, “Here eat this. It will not only make your headache go away, but it’s good for the soul.” I recall looking at him in bewilderment - but nonetheless happily took the spoon in my hand and ate that bowl of ice cream.

I learned a couple of things that day. First, ice cream does not cure a headache. Second, my dad was right, ice cream is good for the soul!  

I realized later that there was one additional lesson that he was sharing with me that day he prescribed me a bowl of ice cream... in this life, you’ll experience headaches, pain, sadness, tribulations and thorns in your side, but these things are all temporary. They’re here today and gone tomorrow. But your soul - your soul is forever. Feed your soul one big spoonful at a time. Satiate your soul with things that are good and lovely and noble because that's what matters most.

This Father’s Day, share a bowl of ice cream with your dad.  Talk a little. Laugh a little. And fill your right-nows with spoonfuls and spoonfuls of sweet goodness.