Michael Guy with sons Sebastian and Joshua at Gatineau Park
Michael Guy with sons Sebastian and Joshua at Gatineau Park

by Sebastian Guy

For being such a steady, consistent and upright Dad, here are my reflections as we approach Father’s Day:

When I think of Michael Guy, my father, I think of his great character, steadfastness and love. He’s not a complicated man and he has his priorities straight. He is sincere, ethical, generous of spirit and of mind. He is passionate, loves to have fun and is fun to be around. My Dad is always upbeat, smiling, outgoing, eager to help and carries a positive outlook of life.

I admire my father because he’s loyal to his family and to my mother and has remained together with her for almost 28 years. Father of a daughter and two sons, he has shown how family is important to him and is proud of us. He’s not afraid to encourage us and praises us when we do well. He’s one of those ‘high-five, fist-bumping and pat-on-the-back’ kind of guys. He makes us feel good about ourselves and encourages us to do and be our best. We have that confidence in knowing that we can rely on him and that he has our back.

Although a Canadian citizen, my father is proud of his Jamaican heritage – its culture, strong family ties and of course, its music. He has been living in Canada since 1975 and is well accustomed to a typical Canadian lifestyle and culture. And so he is open-minded and loves meeting people of all cultures never hesitating to learn someone else’s native greeting. In fact, we always tease him about his being a Jamaican able to greet folks in Russian, Polish, Spanish, French, Japanese and Chinese among others.

He is super busy, hard-working and loves being productive. Whether it is with his time volunteering with family and local organizations or working hard at two jobs or working hard around the house, garden and garage, my Dad is always on the move.

His passion, however, is the food industry. Whether it be catering, cooking or sampling food, his love of food has no bounds. He wants to prepare it, cook it, serve it and loves our reactions when we praise him for a wonderful meal. As kids, we were fortunate to have such a good cook growing up and we always looked forward to his colourful and tasty meals made with love.

I’m not saying any of it was easy… as I said, my Dad is a passionate man. But I admire him greatly because in my life, I was able to experience many of those father-son milestone moments. He first taught me how to ride a bicycle and how to drive a car. He was the one who encouraged me in Cadets and in the Reserves. He was the one who would take me to play rough and tumble outdoors and encouraged me in rugby. He also ensured we were at Church and Sunday School every week. He  taught my brother and I how to shave. And of course, he played the obligatory role of chauffeur; driving us home from school events and friends’ homes late at night and when older, helping each of us move out (probably a little too happily….).

Love you Dad!

Sebastian