I have long felt that the father is one of the unsung heroes of our nation. A strong and loving father is a treasure and those who have a father in their life want to find the best way to honor him not only on Father’s Day but all year. It is a good thing to have this day on the calendar to remind us that Dad deserves some undivided attention occasionally!
It’s been a lot of years since I lost my father but he is forever in my heart and mind and a lot of the verses in a book of poetry that I am writing for fathers are inspired by my memories of him. Just as the mother’s book contains many verses are inspired by my mom.
I’m not saying that my parents were perfect, but they were (I’m convinced) the perfect parents for me. I learned so much from them that I didn’t even realize I was learning!
I know that must be true of all kids. Dad worked so hard and never was without a job or two. He worked in the city and my brothers worked the farm. I helped Mom take care of the household chores. I don’t remember Daddy ever spanking me or even raising his voice to me, but I respected him and I knew that he believed in spanking and if the deed warranted it would not hesitate to give me a spat on the backside!
Just as the wearing of a rose was a tradition with Mother’s Day, the same was appropriate for Father’s Day in the south where I grew up. This was the tradition of wearing a red rose on Father’s Day to celebrate his life and a white rose in memory of your father.
I can’t do a book for my parents but I can and will do one for my daughter documenting the time she had with them, her visits and the stories of their times together. In it will also be memories of my childhood with my parents and grandparents. The modern generation is so blessed to have the amount of photos, tapes, DVD’s and movies today to help them record and enjoy family history. Technology can tear the family apart by pulling them into too many different activities and places or help pull them together by making it possible to record happy times together and to record messages and photos to send to each other when apart.
I am so excited over the many possibilities available as far as personal books to share with family. A calendar makes such a neat item for Dad’s office and gives him an easy way to inconspicuously share all of those cool photos you’ve collected. (He has to point to the calendar to confirm dates of meetings, etc., right?
I hope all of you enjoy, treasure, cherish and honor your dads. And of course the very best way to honor our parents is to be the kind of people they wanted us to be. A good family name is more valuable to pass down to future generations than a massive fortune.
