A week before Father's Day on June 9th, I finally remembered that the day was coming.

Father's Day comes too soon after Mother's Day, which we put so much effort into... So we didn't have much money or time for it! I discussed with my little sister as to what to do, and this year, we decided just to write him a card and buy him a present.
There was going to be no hand-made element this year... Sorry Dad.

The sun blazed down on Father's Day as I went to get a card at a nearby stationery store in the afternoon. I walked in, and there it was! A special display shelf full of Father's Day cards!

The shop had a whole variety - from simple, grown-up designs to the ones with all those cute drawings, messages and sound effects!

Which one to choose?
I wanted to write the main message by hand: "Thank you Father, as always," so I decided against cards with printed text.

I also decided against those design-conscious ones that came with pictures of business shirts and ties, because they looked like they were for fathers who were corporate soldiers. I felt like these cards didn't suit my father for some reason, so I decided against them as well.

Then a 3D pop-up card shaped like a jug of beer and a bowl of edamame soybeans came into view.

Yes, yes! Beer and edamame! Grown-ups' favorite items on a hot summer day! My father must love them too!
But the card came with printed text and didn't have enough space to write my own message, so I decided against this one as well.

Let's find a card that suits my father - one with plenty of blank space! With that mission in mind, I walked around the greeting cards section of the shop for another half hour or so. In the end, I decided to get him a bird postcard; my father's hobby is taking pictures of birds.

The postcard was a picture of two parrots, one smaller than the other, and both perched on a branch. I pretended that the bigger one was me and the smaller one was my little sister, and let those two true parrots deliver the message.

I thought the picture on the postcard was so beautiful and hoped my father would display the card in his room. My sister and I also wrote our own messages in the blank space on the postcard.

After preparing the card, I went to a supermarket and bought a set of playing cards that we can all play together. I also bought some edamame beans there - and our Father's Day present was ready to go!

When evening came at last, my sister and I hung the present on the door knob of our father's room. We did that instead of delivering it by hand, because we felt embarrassed to express our love and affection towards our father directly at our age (^_^;)

And then - this is the thank you email I received from my father on my mobile phone the next day (quoted in its entirety).

　　　"Title: Thank You"

　　　"Message: Maido Arii (thank you as always) for the mysterious postcard and the Exotic Birds playing cards."

By the way, Dad, you are not using the phrase "Maido Ari" correctly.