Good Fathers Are A Blessing

My Dad

I miss my Daddy every day. He was such a good husband and father.  An Army veteran of two wars, he was eleven years older than my Mother when they married, and they then went on to have four children. Quiet and dependable, I remember my Dad never missed a day of work. He loved to go fishing, watch baseball, and read. He often told me that when he was growing up he read every book in his little Pennsylvania town's public library. His favorite stories were James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales. When I was required to read The Last of the Mohicans in high school, we had our first of many "book talks." My Dad loved to laugh and watch comedies on tvs, such as Red Skelton, Phil Silvers, The Honeymooners, and Life with Riley. The Ed Sullivan Show and the Million Dollar Movie were hardly ever missed. My Dad smelled of the Old Spice cologne I bought him every Father's Day. He liked to jingle the coins in his pocket, and he often hummed happy old tunes such as Marzy Dotes.  One of my fondest memories was the "Father/Daughter Dance" we attended at my all-girls high school when I was a senior student. He had to take the day off from work to attend the dance, and I know that was a sacrifice. He bought a corsage for me to wear and a boutonniere for himself for this special occasion -- you can see how we looked in the lower right of the photo collage above. It was such a proud and happy day for both of us!
My family lost him tragically the next year. He went to work one day and never came home. How he died is much too sad and painful for me to detail here, but he died a hero trying to save others from his fate.  I've missed him every day of the last forty years. This year my Mother joined him in heaven and we had the words "Together Again" inscribed on their gravestone.  You were the best Father I could have wished for, Daddy!  Happy Father's Day!

Thankfully, I was also blessed with the kindest, most loving husband I could have ever dreamed about. A man who was good a father to our children as my father was to me. A man who never raises his voice in anger, who is hard working and devoted to his family and who loves God and his adopted country. We will be married thirty-eight years this October, and each day has been better than the last. My only regret was that he and my father never met, but I know that they would have liked each other very much!  Happy Father's Day, my dearest!

Now my husband and I have the added blessing of seeing our son be a kind and loving father to his own two sons. The shining examples of how his father raised him is evident in all he does. Our grandsons could not have been given a better father and we pray that they will one day be the same for their children.  The legacy of loving fatherhood will hopefully be passed on for many generations to come. Happy Father's Day to our dear son!

Happy Father's Day to all the good daddies everywhere!

You matter more than you could ever imagine!