Rachel Grunwell: Give dad a hug

Rachel Grunwell and her father Nick

A lot of people wonder where I got my original inspiration with fitness and marathon running from. That was from Dad.

Happy Father's Day to the blokes in our lives that have a piece of our hearts — even when they utter terrible dad jokes.

My dad, Nick, lives in Tauranga. He will likely cringe at me writing this column. But then again, he noted that I missed out a key bit about "fitness" when I wrote my book Balance: Food, Health + Happiness.

"You forgot to tell everyone about my weights bench when you were a teenager," he remarked to me the other week.

"You know, how I used to make all your boyfriends try and bench-press my big weights and I'd try and squash them!" he quipped, and then cackled.
Cue: This daughter rolling her eyes to the sky, but then chuckling along with him.

I want to inspire you to appreciate your dad today — even if he tried to quash your boyfriends as a teenager too. Don't focus on giving him a present; give him some presence. Or at least a phone call to say "gidday".

If you haven't spoken for years, then get over yourself. Be the bigger person and turn a fresh page. It will heal your hearts to connect again. Tell him you care — while you can.

You see, I learnt painfully about roughly a year ago that life can change in an instant. My dad was in a serious car crash. A woman fell asleep at the wheel, smashing both cars into twisted tin cans. Air bags went off and saved lives. A firefighter had to cut my dad from the wreckage. He was rushed to hospital and required surgery. But thank god he survived.

Thank goodness everyone survived that day.

I fell down to my knees when I heard the news, sobbing. It was a day where I felt frozen in body and foggy in the brain. Around the same time, I was trying to cope with the sudden death of a friend. My head was a mess.

So, today I'm grateful for my dad being here and that he can laugh with me about the times he used to torture my boyfriends. And, so I can tell him I love him.

P.S. A lot of people wonder where I got my original inspiration with fitness and marathon running from. That was from Dad. He's one of the fittest blokes I know and still has abs now even as a granddad. He also proudly reads everything I write. So, I might just be a tad in trouble today when I ring him to tell him that I love him and that I'm looking forward to our next walk along Papamoa Beach.

— Rachel Grunwell is a wellness expert & author of the book Balance: Food, Health + Happiness. Find Rachel via inspiredhealth.co.nz, Instagram (rachelgrunwell) or Facebook (InspiredHealthNZ).