Father’s Day

Just got home from a lovely BBQ at my parents’ house, with a nice long chat over coffee. I love these chats. As a young person, we had many meaningful chats over coffee, usually on the heels of a heated disagreement or debate. As I got older, the debates became fewer in number, but fortunately we maintained the coffee conversations. I’m so grateful.

It’s Father’s Day, and I am blessed to have many father-figures and mentors in my life starting with my father, who continues to teach by example: to live a life of integrity, to stand up for what I believe in, to value the importance of family and friends, to be true to myself no matter what others may say, to honor the elders and take joy in the children, to stay connected to roots even as we reach for the stars.

Coffee with my father, Walter W. Dudycz (Photo by 8 Eyes Photography)

Thank you to the men in my life who have taught me invaluable lessons, inspired me to be more than I am, believed in me and encouraged me.

Some are still a part of my circle, others have passed on. I am better for having known you, and I am grateful.

Happy Father’s Day.

Published by Valya

Valya Dudycz Lupescu has been making magic with food and words for more than 20 years, incorporating folklore from her Ukrainian heritage with practices that honor the Earth. She’s a writer, content developer, instructor, and mother of three teenagers. Valya is the author of MOTHER CHRISTMAS, THE SILENCE OF TREES, and the founding editor of CONCLAVE: A Journal of Character. Along with Stephen H. Segal, she is the co-author of FORKING GOOD: An Unofficial Cookbook for Fans of The Good Place and GEEK PARENTING: What Joffrey, Jor-El, Maleficent, and the McFlys Teach Us about Raising a Family (Quirk Books), and co-founder of the Wyrd Words storytelling laboratory. Valya earned her MFA in Writing from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and her poetry and prose have been published in anthologies and magazines that include, The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror, Kenyon Review, Culture, Gargoyle Magazine, Gone Lawn, Strange Horizons, Mythic Delirium. You can find her on Twitter @valya and on Mastodon.social @valya

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