Whoa! Didja get the numbers off that truck?!?

June 12, 2003 - 9:02 p.m.

Fathers Day

I got the history of Fathers Day from this site . It goes as follows:

�Sonora Dodd, of Washington, was one of the first people who had the idea of a "father's day." She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

After Sonora became an adult she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

Even before Dodd, however, the idea of observing a day in honor of fathers was promoted. Dr. Robert Webb conducted what is believed as the first Father's Day service at the Central Church of Fairmont, West Virginia in 1908. It was Dodd's efforts, however, that eventually led to a national observance.

President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day.�

That�s very nice. Unfortunately it doesn�t take much to be a father. To put it in simple terms, all it takes is a load of penis butter and a willing recipient. (I�ve been looking for an excuse to use the phrase �penis butter� in a sentence, and there was my chance!)

Fathers Day has been reduced to that same amount of insignificance in my mind. It�s turned into one of those manufactured holidays, like Mothers Day, Valentines Day, Sweetest Day, Boss� Day, Administrative Assistants Day (Secretary and Stewardess died a horrible death in the eighties) and the Fourth of July. It has become an excuse to sell greeting cards and cars. Every retail outlet is hosting a Fathers Day Blowout (we�re slashing prices for Dad!).

Does this mean that Dad gets only one day of recognition? Only one day? I�m a dad every day of the year, and I�ll be one for the rest of my life. The most significant Fathers Days for me didn�t fall on the third Sunday in June. They happened on March 13, 1985 and again on June 18, 1987. Those were the days when little helpless humans that shared my gene structure came into this world, with a surgeon�s help.

Those events changed my life and they changed me too. Those two little beings truly taught me the meaning of Love. They gave a purpose and meaning to my life and despite all that�s transpired since then, they continue to reward me. 30% off a new gas grill just doesn�t have the same meaning.

Fathers Day for me happens all year round. Fathers Day is when a three year old boy suddenly beams a beautiful smile and runs to me with arms wide open. Fathers Day is when those sons take off on their first wobbly solo bike ride. Fathers Day is when Son1 or Son2 says something so insightful and profound that I�m glad for all those years of guidance and caring I gave to them. Fathers Day is when they thank me for doing something for them that I feel is my responsibility as a parent. Fathers Day is when I can look in on them sleeping peacefully.

Send your cards, have your sales, do the things you must do to move merchandise in the name of a holiday. I�ve got my day every day.

Thank you, Son one and Son two.

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