Happy Father's Day to Newsday's finest

Journalism is not for the faint of heart and anyone working in a newsroom will eventually develop a thick skin.

But while Newsday's dads may put on their tough looks as they go about their various duties in bringing out a paper every, single day, they probably think nobody notices how they crumble like cookies when certain conversations come up. Here are some classic examples:

On any given day, managing editor Ken Chee Hing can almost burn the building down with the sparks that emanate from his eyes when he mentions his daughters' names. And while news editor Eeili Hackshaw may not crack a smile for hours on end as he sits at his desk staring at the computer screen, if you look at his WhatsApp profile pic you will notice he has had the same photo since he joined the social media platform – his son in his school uniform.

Meanwhile, business reporter Ryan Hamilton-Davis, whose main unofficial role at the paper is to sound the end-of-month alert that there’s money in the bank, quickly knocked it down a notch to number two when he became a father. His usually vibrant “caw caw, caw caw,” bird call is now usually punctuated by a stifled yawn – an indication that he spent the night up on daddy duty.

And the pride of fatherhood cannot be deterred, even by a language barrier. For although it may be sometimes difficult for some of us to understand what our Venezuelan colleague Grevic Alvarado is saying, fatherly love is a universal language so we know all about the special bond he has with his son. Political reporter Sean Douglas can be described as the "father of sacrifice" when it comes to his children. He has been known to do without or very little, just so his children, even the ones who are grown, could have.

Sports editor Stephon Nicholas and his sporting colleague Yohance Simonette spend a lot of time attending, writing about and editing stories on sporting events in which other people’s children participate and excel. But does that take away from their time with and pride in the achievements of their own children? Not a chance! Just strike up a conversation with them about their little ones, and oh, the stories they will tell.

Sub editor Shawn Moona’s daughter’s name could very well be mistaken for "Pace." For whenever anyone asks about her, he responds, “She is pace yes,” always with a smile and clearly enjoying the pace. Sub editor Rodney Francis is a man of few words, so forget about having a conversation with him about fatherhood. But you can tell a lot about a man as a father when he sets boundaries around his family time. “I’m with my family at worship right now, I’ll have to call you back later,” he politely told someone once who had called him on a Sunday afternoon regarding a work-related matter.

Sub editor Damian Jones has been doing the father thing for many years, and it shows. His patience with the children of colleagues who've had to come into the newsroom when children were allowed pre-covid is admirable and clearly a spill over from his patient interaction with his own children.

If you want to see chief photographer Jeff Mayers smile, just ask him a question about his daughter, the love of his life. The same goes for photographer Angelo Marcelle and his girls. He can give an earful of the chronicles of the Marcelle princesses, and then some. The volume button on the mouth of south-based photographer Lincoln Holder always seems to be stuck on the 'loud' setting. But if you want to see it move to 'louder and proud', strike up a conversation with him about his daughter. Just remember to put in your ear plugs first.

The IT guys, operations manager Nischal Rambarran, and technicians Fazal Mohammed, Shivan Marajh and Cody La Caille spend most of their time in their tech space overseeing tech things, so they're not usually in the newsroom unless they are required to help with a problem. But once they are around and the subject of their children come up, the pride is evident, the devotion is never misplaced, and the commitment shines through.

When Sunday editor Darren Bahaw and associate editor Arthur Dash enter the newsroom, they usually make a beeline for their respective work spaces. But, on the rare occasions that they talk about their family life, their fatherly roles usually make it into the spotlight.

The influences of a good father lasts a lifetime. So when one of Newsday's most distinguished fathers, photographer Sureash Cholai died in January, he left a legacy of how priceless true fatherhood really is.

Today, WMN wants to take this opportunity to remind Newsday's finest that we see and appreciate you. Happy Father's Day!