JUNE DOESN'T JUST MEAN SUMMER. IT MEANS FATHER'S DAY!
Good dads are few and far between. How do I know this? Because I have one of the good ones. So when Father’s Day rolls around each year, you can bet that I want to show my love to this man, who rocked me in the wee hours so many years ago. When I think of Father’s Day, many things come to mind. I think of my own dad of course, but I also think of the billions of other dads around the world that chose a roll that would be as honorable as it would be challenging.
My earlier memories take me back to a father who worked himself to the bone so his eight children would see presents under the tree at Christmas. This meant that he sometimes took on two extra jobs. But the gifts that I remember most are the ones he made with his own two hands. Such craftsmanship went into handmade toys that I think he could have been a master toy maker. As the years past I have never forgotten my finely made doll cradle and I would like to think that these toys weren’t made in vain. That’s why Father’s Day is such an important holiday. Lets’ take a trip back in time to the first father’s day and the events that inspired this popular national holiday.
Father’s Day wasn’t observed as a national holiday until 1972, when President Nixon declared this special day be observed nationally. It was only 64 years earlier that the first Father’s Day made history in a small Episcopal church in Fairmont, West Virginia. A member of the church named Grace Golden Clayton suggested to her pastor that there should be a special day remembering fathers, after a violent explosion took place in a nearby town, killing over 300 men. One year later another woman thought that dads should be honored after the death of her mother. Sonora Smart Dodd was left without a mother, along with her other siblings. Her father- a civil war veteran -was left to raise all the children. During a sermon, Sonora suggested that there be a day honoring dads. And, because her father’s birthday was in June, the first Father’s Day was recognized on June 19th, 1910.
But it would still be a few years before Father’s Day would be recognized as a national holiday. Even though in 1924 President Coolidge recommended it be recognized as a national holiday, that wouldn’t happen for another 48 years. In 1966 President Johnson proclaimed that Fathers day take place on the third Sunday in June. Six years passed before it finally became a national holiday. Today, Father’s Day is celebrated in over 50 countries worldwide. While it may have taken a few years to become official, that never stopped women like Grace Clayton, or Sonora Dodd, who had a great love and appreciation for their own fathers. And isn’t it interesting that the inspiration of two women, caused the thoughts of many to stir in the creation of such a spectacular day? Every action begins with a thought. Nothing can happen unless that thought enters our brains. As for me, even if Father’s Day hadn’t been the brainstorm of these two women-I would still find the time to honor my dad-no matter what day or time of the year.
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