Father's Day

Father's Day is supposed to be a day to celebrate fathers, fatherhood and the their role in the family. My wife and my children celebrated that, in a low key way that I prefer. My boys made a breakfast for me and I got amusing cards from them and from my wife.Since my own father is dead, I could not talk to him or tell him how much I appreciated him, but I did think about him and what he did for me and my family when we were growing up. As I thought about it I wondered what it is that I can do as a father that my own children will appreciate for the rest of their lives. There are the basics of providing shelter, food, and a sense of safety and security. That is a necessary given, they will appreciate it but it is not something necessarily special. Beyond that there is basic moral instruction, and some familial discipline. That also is necessary for development of my children as whole persons and again that is not necessarily special. Of course there is that love and support for them that encourages them to do their best, to not be afraid of failure, to dream and dream big. Without that they will not be able to think and act independently, to be fully independent persons. Since I have only sons, my perspective is perhaps somewhat different than that of a father who has daughters. I want my sons to grow into mature independent accomplished men. Perhaps doing what I can to help further that goal might just be that special thing that all of them will appreciate for the rest of their lives. I pondered that sitting alone in my chair on my backyard deck sipping wine watching the sun set on warm summer's day. That's what I did on Father's day.