Happy Father's Day!

Today is Father’s Day. I didn’t forget, although I’m not very timely with my musing this month.

I think fathers may feel as if they get the short end of the stick when it comes to their special day, and while that may be true (at least where spending is concerned), fathers are still vitally important in our lives.

I’ve written before about my father. He wasn’t the kind of man who often told me and my siblings that he loved us, but he certainly showed it. My father took care of business. He made sure that we were safe, happy, and secure. He didn’t have to tell us the value of hard work, he showed it every day.

My father was also my protector. I remember once during a summer storm the weather took a turn for the worse. Suddenly we heard tornado sirens and as many folks in the Mid-West know, when you hear tornado sirens, you get to a safe place. At the time my father was working, so it was up to my mother to gather me and my siblings and get us to a safe place.

Thankfully, the tornado never touched down, but shortly after the storm passed, we heard someone at the front door. It was my father, still in his factory job uniform. He had left work, fled home, and checked on his family. As a little girl, I cannot tell you how protected and loved that made me feel knowing that my daddy came home to check on us.

But something else special about my father wasn’t just that he was a wonderful dad, he was an amazing grandfather. At times I didn’t recognize this man who allowed my and my brother’s children wrap him around their little fingers. He would do anything for his grandchildren and they knew it. From attending football games to picking up sick kids from school to always knowing exactly what his grandkids wanted for their birthdays and Christmas, my father loved his grandchildren beyond measure and was well-loved in return.

My father passed away many years ago, but I still think of him often. That’s just the kind of impact he had on my life.

So in honor of all of the wonderful fathers, grandfathers, step-fathers, and those men who are standing in the gap for absent fathers, thank you for being that loving man in your children’s lives. Happy Father’s Day!