It didn’t matter if it was a scrape or a splinter being extracted, somehow it always ended up with something akin to Windex being applied. Later in life, the ‘suck it up‘ hardship lessons gained deeper appreciation, Fatherhood training.
Today we recognize men, Fathers who have the most consequential role. The rock, the foundation, the cornerstone.
From the very moment of conception, a father’s active and loving presence helps to determine the child. The quality of that child’s life is then tied to a man’s fortitude, a commitment to love, nurture and develop his children.
Many of us are fortunate to have experienced loving fathers; even when we may not have defined the expression of love in the moment. Often, we do not realize the extent of a father’s love and sacrifice until we ourselves become parents.
“A good and loving father is a foundation of strength and love on which a family is established, and it supports the growth of the family, and of the people who belong to the family. As a man gives of his strength, his love, his guidance, his wisdom, he builds something special and unique, something unrivaled in the world. He creates in his children the unlimited potential to go out into the world and thrive, to change that world, hopefully for the better. And most importantly of all, he creates the opportunity for his children to be strong enough to nurture and love a family of their own.”
Today we honor the men who gave us our lives and gave us their hearts. Happy Father’s Day. May you spend the day enjoying the fruits of your labors with those you love, and those who love you best.” ~ Menagerie, ’12
Windex was never an antibiotic, and each time I see the bottle in the closet I think about what it represents in that context. Weakness is not one of the options available. ~Sundance
Happy Father’s Day!
Ha! “‘suck it up‘”, the foundation to “Fatherhood training”. Agreed. BTW, poignant photo of father/son. Thanks, Sundance. I am glad you had a good experience with your father.
Love the avatar. I have that print too. “There were a lotta things you didn’t tell me when I signed on to this outfit.”
When I was growing up in the 50s, Father Knows Best was a top-rated TV show that had been defining the ideal American family since its radio beginnings in the 40s. It told us the mother was the heart of the family, the father was the head…and children needed both as they searched for their rightful place in society.
Only in the 60s did this view of what a family should be come under attack, from the counter-culture who traded in a father’s responsibilities for free love and neo-feminism who told us breaking a glass ceiling was more important than having a roof over our heads. Divorce rates rose, birth rates dropped and families who’d done just fine on one bread-winner now needed both parents working outside the home to survive!
And what did that get us? Are we happier as a result?
Honoring fathers who take their responsibilities to their families seriously is more important now than ever it was because it teaches irresponsible boys to be responsible men!
So Happy Father’s Day, America…and remember father really does know best!
Quick…. other then Roseanne, name a show with a white family in it , with both a mother
and father. The only other one I can think of is Family Ties with Michael J. Fox. That one
doesn’t count, because it was pushing the narrative to the limit. Dad ran a PBS station, as
I recall. Any other show, the dad or mom was widowed. No two parent nuclear families
allowed, comrade!
You put your finger on the problem, comrade!
Everybody loves Raymond, home improvement, the middle. Likely others I’m forgetting.
Leave it to Beaver.
Widower dad in My 3 Sons , and then ‘Aint’ Bee with Andy on Andy Griffith show.
I love that show. It doesn’t matter the decade, the life lessons still hold true.
Thank you, SD, for a wonderful and uplifting commentary.
Happy Father’s Day to all dads! May God bless you for the love and positive influence you have provided to His children throughout their lives.
I married in 1984, had a son born in 1986, lost my job, had a traumatic injury and was divorced in 1988. Homeless for a year. I never left my son. I followed him thru school, played the hero several times. We now work in the same building I got him the job and he won’t even talk to me. I never had a Fathers day. This crap all means nothing to me. I figure the State took my Fatherhood from me.
God bless you, sir. If you have not, please become a mentor to a young person. Show someone how to check their oil or unclog a drain. Everyone needs to know righty-tighty. Lifting you in prayer, dad.
Mercurochrome, although that was mom, lol. God Bless the dads. Mine taught me how to hunt, fish, and forage.
I used to get ingrown toenails in my big toe when I was a kid. My Dad would get out his pocket knife and heat the blade over the gas stove a bit to “sterilize” it. Then hold me down and cut it out. I didn’t complain about them after that surgery. I just bit the bullet and let them grow out. Miss you every day, Dad.
Had a little wart on your finger? Compound W was expensive. Bleach and a razor blade took care of it.
So it wasn’t just something from My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding?
Haha, I guess not!
The Good LORD has allowed me to live long enough to begin to comprehend (at least) some of the horrors and terrors I brought down upon those who loved me in the days of misspent youth. I am a slow learner, but I’m learning better now, day by day, the blessings of God’s Hope in the miracle of repentance. Happy Father’s Day to every good man who sticks with it no matter what. I wish I’d known better a long time ago. The evil I did back then was NOT my dad’s fault. It was all mine in rebellion, apostasy, self-indulgence, you-name-it. Better late than never, eh?
All the very best to conscientious, loving Dads whose sons and daughters will love them forever.
Yours truly,
Maxx
‘Wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then’