Edditorial:

Happy Father’s Day! As far as a day of celebration, it is not one of the big ones. Father’s Day pales in comparison to say Mother’s Day. For us fathers it is akin to being treated like the step-child of other celebrations. With that said, it is a big deal for us fathers!

Father’s Day is a day when the family gets together to celebrate their father. The father, supposedly, gets a day off to relax, play golf, go to the ballgame, and for a lot of dads, a day fire up the grill, get out the steaks, and pull an ice cold beer from the cooler… now that is a great day for Dads!

Still, there are times when fathers get the short end of the stick. How many times have we heard it is the mother that keeps the family together…. Yet it is the father who is rock of the family around which the chaos swirls. It is the father who steers the ship and the one the family looks to for strength. For example, as kids we would brag that my father is stronger than your father. Or when the daughter grows up and has her first serious date, her first true love, that young man has to pass muster with the father.

The father is the one the children look up to for examples of how one lives his life. The father teaches his sons how act and to become a man, he teaches them how treat a lady, he lets them know that they have to have an inner strength and know the difference between right and wrong. The daughter learns from her dad how a woman should be treated by the way he treats his wife; he lets her know that a household is a shared responsibility, he gives her space to grow, but lets her know there are boundaries.

There are great joys in being a father: playing catch with our his sons, watching our sons become ‘a chip off the old bloc’, and even our father-son talks about girls. Our daughters adore us and there is always a special place for our little princesses.

Being a father can be a tough job. Some fathers can’t handle it and they bail on their responsibilities. There are tough times.

When you become a father, your whole life changes with the birth of your first child. Gone are the care free days, now you have a young person who depends upon you for everything. Things don’t always go as planned, and financially there is not always enough money. Too often, marriages fail and divorce tears the family apart or, in today’s throwaway society, it is just easier to leave the wife and kids behind. This is a national issue.

President Obama has started a national conversation on the issue and hopes to join with fathers across the nation in a fatherhood pledge:

I pledge to renew my commitment to family and community.

I recognize the positive impact that fathers, mothers, mentors, and other responsible adults can have on our children and youth, and pledge to do all I can to provide children in my home and throughout my community the encouragement and support they need to fulfill their potential.

We join the President in this pledge and wish all the fathers a Happy Father’s Day!