ALTHOUGH I gave myself enough time to make this article, I found it hard to come up with something. My father unexpectedly died in 1997, and as the years passed, I realized that life stepped in and slowly blurred the memory of having a father.
My relationship with my father was, I think, was better than the rest of my siblings. Somehow, in a sort of quiet way, I understood him—his moods, rules and dreams. Still, just like any family, ours also went through struggles and disappointments.
This Father’s Day, I would like to look back and remember Daddy, who was always there for me. Also we laud all the fathers that have made sacrifices for their families, supported them in any way possible and loved them unconditionally.
An idea
The idea of a "father’s day" came to Sonora Dodd of Washington while she was listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Sonora’s father, William Smart, was a Civil War veteran who was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child, leaving him to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself.
Like most children, we tend to take for granted our parents’ sacrifices. It was after becoming an adult that Sonora realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising her and her siblings as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in her eyes, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Since Mr. Smart was born in June, Sonora chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on June 19, 1910.
In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father’s Day, but it was only in 1966 that President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day. It was then signed into law by President Richard Nixon in 1972.
Daddy, Papa, Tatay, Itay
We may call our fathers differently, but his purpose and significance in our life remains the same. He is the provider, the foundation of our family. He is someone we look up to, a model for how we want our own families be in the future.
I can write endlessly in this piece how "perfect" my father was. But he isn’t. He, just like any parent, has made mistakes. And just like when he was to us when we fall, we accepted his flaws because that what made us learn about patience, understanding and forgiveness. That is what made us compassionate and human.
Before I started this piece, I had to take a moment and think about how to spell "father." It seems that I have forgotten, which made me a little sad. I do not want Daddy to just silently slip away in my past, and fortunately it is not too late. He may be gone in this world today, but he will always be in my heart forever.
( Published June 17, 2010 in Something Filipino Magazine p. 2 )
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
