A story which my dad loves to tell is the first time he met Pr Simon Gigliotti at a church program in 2019. My dad was in the youth shed helping my sisters and I set up. Without being asked he started setting out chairs for the program, and within an hour or so he had set up nearly 1,000 chairs on his own. This is when Pr Simon Gigliotti returned to discover all the chairs set up. He started chatting to my dad, and when my dad mentioned he was nearly 80 years old, Pr Simon didn’t believe him and forced him to get his driver’s license out. When Simon inspected his license, he looked up and exclaimed, “You’re for real!”
Ever since that day, Pr Simon Gigliotti has referred to my dad as “the legend”.
Pr Simon is right. . . my father is a legend! I don’t say this lightly, nor do I say it on my own––multiple people (not just Pr Simon) have come up to my siblings and I to mention how much they admire and look up to my dad, calling him a “legend”. And of his six children, all of us often say how much we want to be like our dad when we get older.
But what makes people look up to him so much? What makes my dad extraordinary?
For me, it is his dedication.
My dad is perhaps the most loyal, devoted, persistent, and energetic man that I have ever met. And anyone who knows Roger Fairfax can attest to this statement being entirely true and unbiased. At 82 years old, he is involved as an elder at church, leads Pathfinders and goes on hikes, and is always active in the garden planting vegetables or clearing the bush to prevent bushfires. He has retired on two separate occasions, but still seems to be hard at work volunteering, helping others, and planting fruit trees and clearing overgrown paddocks at my parents’ farmland property. My dad is literally an unstoppable force, nicknamed “tough-as-nails” by a friend. . . even breaking a hip on a Pathfinder hike didn’t stop him from finishing the rest of the three-day hike!
When I was growing up, I knew that at every sports carnival, every school working-bee, every fundraising event and performance I was a part of, he would be there. And not only would he be there, but he would be involved. I could always count on him for support. . . and money for canteen snacks!
My dad is as loyal as they come and is the most reliable person I know. He has dedicated most of his life to serving his community, wherever he finds himself. Even from childhood he was a helpful and service-oriented individual, filling up the inkpots in the classrooms, starting the fire before class, and tending to the school’s garden. As an adult, before becoming an Adventist, he was heavily involved in the Kirrawee district scouting club, as well as his children’s home-and-school council, and his neighbourhood, knowing each of the neighbours on his street by name––and he still remembers their names to this day over 50 years later!
But his example of servant-hearted devotion to those around him––especially his kids––is what I think makes him the most excellent dad. And in this way, I believe he is a good representation of how our Heavenly Father loves us in other-centred, self-sacrificial devotion. My dad is a legend because his devotion to his children has developed my faith in God to be one of reliance, loyalty, and full assurance in His presence in my life. And for that I will eternally be grateful. What are you grateful for this Father’s Day? What is it about your father which you admire? Or is there a father-like figure in your life who you can show your appreciation to? Don’t let the opportunity pass this Father’s Day to remind your father that to you, he is a legend.
