Father's Day Brings Dad into Focus

I thought it would be interesting to preface my personal ncomments with the following information about the origins of nthe Father's day tradition. nnThe original Father's day began in the state of Washington naround 1909 when a grateful and loving daughter wanted a nspecial date set aside for her father, who became a widower, nwhen his wife died giving birth to their sixth child. He was nleft to rear his six children alone, serving as both mother nand father. As an adult, Senora Louise Smart Dodd, became nmore conscious of the hard work and dedication required by nher father in raising the six of them. She enlisted the help nof the Spokane, Washington Ministerial Association and the nYMCA. As a result, the first Father's day was celebrated in nSpokane, June 19th, 1910. A white rose was selected to nrepresent a deceased father and a red one for the living.nn nThe observance spread to other communities accross the ncountry and in 1924, Calvin Coolidge supported the nobservance of the tradition. However, it wasn't until nLyndon Johnson made the proclamation in 1966, that Father's nday would be celebrated every year, the third Sunday in nJune. nn nnMost of us are like the founder, Senora Dodd, in that, we ndon't develop a true sense of the enormity of being a nparent until we have our own children or we've had years to nreflect back. Some of us never get to know our father's for nwhatever reason they may be absent from our lives. For those nof us that were blessed by fathers, grandfathers, uncles, npastors,coaches or any other father figures who may have had na great influence on us, we set aside this special day in nthe time honored tradition of Father's Day. nn nnMy own dad is 86 now. He was an only child, so I can imagine nhow my grandfather, a WWI veteran, must have felt when he nwent to serve in WWII. He was in the jungles of New Guinea nfor three years. He took R&R in Australia, which is where he nmet my wonderful mother and 2 weeks later, they were married nin the port city of McKay. Another father, my other nGrandfather,tough old English sea salt, had to give his nbeloved 18 year old daughter away, grant his blessings as nshe departed for the United States of America. Circumstances nprevented her from returning and they never saw each other nagain.nnn We seldom associate fathers as being emotional about ntheir children because in some cases, they don't display it nas openly as the younger fathers have been taught to do. nThey showed us in so many other ways and led by example, nwhich is the only effective way to lead. Saying one thing nand doing another is very transparent to a child and of no nservice later in life. nn nnI have been fortunate to have been raised during a time when nit was rare that a woman worked outside the home. The men, nthe fathers, carried the weight and it was hard, but as my ndad says, "It was fair" He loved his role as breadwinner nand provider and he loved my mother. When I go to visit him ntoday as in all the yesteryears I've known him, he has nnever changed a spot! He and my mom were married 62 years nbefore she passed away in 2005. When her time was near, my ndad, gathered us together to discuss the gravity of the nsituation. He made his recommendations, and not one adult nchild, even me and I'm the oldest of seven, questioned his ndecision or rationale behind it. nn nnHe is still strong from all those years at the steel mill, nin spite of being yellow, jaundiced and frail upon returning nfrom the war. He hasn't been to a doctor in 30 years, nhasn't changed his eating habits, still wears jeans, carpet nslippers, old ratty flannel shirts and stocking hats. He nsmokes King Edward cigars and loves chocolate covered ncherries but never drinks a drop. Bet you can't guess what nhe gets year in and year out, yep! All his favorites,that's nall he wants and he'll even pout if he doesn't get it! Of ncourse we have made sure he has all the latest gizmos and ngadgets so he can watch his Military channel and John Wayne nmovies, read all those coffee table books about aircraft and nthe big WWII.nnn He just started using a computer last year, he nloves to print out the e-mails he gets. He's the official nscribe of the family and has duly recorded every ngrandchild's and great-grandchild's vitals in the bible. nHe has a wealth of knowledge about everything and laughs at nme when I get upset with so many things I hear in the media. nHe'll say,"daughter, remember, the eye of the camera is nvery small, a handful of rowdy people can look like a nriotous crowd." He's pragmatic,smart,patriotic,devilishly nannoying, funny and loving. He's my dad.