pic is NOT MJ Hawkeye
If all children in the country have forgotten today is Father's Day. It's that one day in the year when we honor dad with a tie he doesn't want nor will ever place around his neck unless he's going to a clown party.
I've been a father for over 44 years and have enjoyed each and every minute of it except when the kids drove me nuts.
My children didn't do a whole lot for me on Father's Day in their first four years. Primarily because they didn't understand the significance. By age five I was receiving those treasured gifts that were were bestowed upon all us; a hand print in a clay mold with the year of their birth. I wonder where all mine are now.
For history buffs the first Mother's Day was celebrated by proclamation from Pres. Woodrow Wilson in 1914. President Lyndon Johnson came along 52 years later after a congressional petition was presented and signed Father's Day into law.
Mother's Day, and rightly so, is a whoop-de-doo day. Dad's day isn't quite so. I suspect it's about a big a deal for dad as it is for the kids which isn't much. In other words, "Thanks Dad, I love you and can I have some money to go to the movies. As for me, I received a call from number one son. My other two kids have children of their own and didn't get around to a greeting. Do I care? Not a whit. They have their own lives and I know what they feel. Plus, they also know they are in my will. They have it made.
I spent a good deal of time this morning trying to figure out my dad legacy; what it was my own kids could hang their hat on when it came to a loving fondness for me. After much deliberation I came up with the following:
Not once in their entire lives did I say, "Hey, Matt, run get old dad a beer". Some things dad's just have to do for themselves. Besides, how many kids want to run to the cooler twelve times in an afternoon to make their dad happy?
Happy Father's Day everyone.
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