Table for 9 please

Ah, that beautifully warm and sunny day in June that we pay homage to the patriarch of the family household. There are no brunches, or jewelry sales, or flowers to buy, no dressing up to make that reservation you made a year in advance to dine overlooking the gardens.  It is, however, the final day of the U.S. Open golf tournament, a day of grilling, outdoor activities, and saying thanks to the one person that taught us the hard lessons in life, dear old dad.

So we might ask ourselves, why is a father so important anyway?  They do not provide infants with nourishment, they do not sustain life, and, for most of us, they don’t really provide us with those mushy moments of support when the tears are flowing.  We are, however, the absolute pillars of support for the American family structure.  There are some staggering statistics of sadness for fatherless youth.  I found a mind boggling blog titled, The Fatherless Generation.  The numbers contained in the”Statistics” section, paint a very grim future for todays youth that grow up without a father.  One could argue that a lot of our decaying society could be restored if the family structure of the days past was recreated.  What I mean by that is simply a two parent household, with both parents contributing equally to the upbringing of the children we bring into this world.  After all, were not both people involved in the creation?

My guide in life as a father was, and always will be my dad.  The blueprint that he laid out gave me all the insight I needed to be a great father to my children.  He came to every game, most of the time coaching the team, he listened to every crappy song I put on the radio and acted as if he liked it, he has always been an ear I could borrow in times when all I needed is a little advice.  In other words, he was present at every turn of my life, every bad decision I made, he caught me when I fell flat, then told me what I could do better, not criticize me for failing.  I would not be the man I am today without the tutelage of my dad, so to him on this day of the Father, thank you for being there and loving me unconditionally.  I love you Dad.

What is being a father though my eyes?  I have seven, yes 7, sons, which is a huge privilege, and a monstrous responsibility as a father.  These seven boys will be shaped into men under our watch.  A metamorphosis will occur, they will go from sweaty little boys that run and play, to young gentlemen that will know all of the social graces a good man should practice daily.  I will teach them to love, to throw a ball, to do algebra, to open the door for ladies, to give compliments, and most of all to be a dad.  Every day, they get to see a family that does all of those things, and it should become second nature to each of these boys.  Not a day goes by that I don’t tell my wife how beautiful she is and give her a kiss.  Children see and emulate everything we do, no matter how good or bad it may be.  Why not give them a role model, a hero to follow?  Now I would never suggest that I am a hero, by any stretch of the imagination, and neither would my father, but none the less he is my hero.  The point is, as a parent, we are our children’s hero’s, we are the ones they want to be like.  We should all take that responsibility more seriously then anything we do, this is our future we are shaping.

The point of this day in June is to become aware as fathers.  Let us all place what we do under our own microscope and re-examine the men we are and the fathers we want to be.  Be a great dad, be present in your children lives and most of all love unconditionally.  This is the greatest job in the world and I love nothing more, on this warm June day every year, then being dog piled by the boys I brought into this world.   To each of my sons, Brenden, Colin, Beau, Gray, Quinn, August, and Liev, I love each of you and would die to protect you.  Happy Father’s Day to all you dads that give so much of yourselves to create a better tomorrow.