Papa Tom

Today is my father's birthday. 
Martin Thomas Welch was born September 12, 1926. 
He would have been 88 years old today.

At home in the US, he was known as Marty; when living in Canada he was known as Tom because he lived in Vancouver's Chinatown where people had trouble pronouncing Marty.

In the unusual configuration that composes my family, as a child I sometimes referred to  him as Papa Tom to distinguish between him and my foster father.  In person, though, I always called him Daddy, even in adulthood.  

I often wondered why I continued with the childlike term Daddy - then, when returning to Miami last winter on a family pilgrimage I realized that everyone in my family refers to their father as Daddy - even my 92 year-old aunt. 

So, today, in honour of my father, I'm going out for donuts.  Daddy loved going to Krispy Kreme on NE 167th St. in North Miami; there he made friends, paid for others though he was poor himself, and once brought a homeless woman to my Grammy's house to help the woman out.

There's no Krispy Kreme in Vancouver so I'm going to a Tim Horton's.  I think Daddy would approve.

RIP Daddy. I miss you so much, and love your more.

(PS: This photo was part of a piece I had published in the excellent photography magazine, Ciel Variable, automne 1991, a few months after Daddy's death; the image was accompanied by a poem I wrote entitled "mon père".)