Father’s Day has always been a bittersweet holiday. Growing up, it reminded me that my dad was absent. My grandfather died the same year my dad did, so after 1980 there really wasn’t a reason to celebrate the holiday.
After becoming a parent myself, Father’s Day remained bittersweet. I remember vividly the three years I didn’t get anything from any of my daughters or wife. In fact, I can’t remember the last time I got a gift from each daughter on Father’s Day. Someone who always had money for movies, CDs, DVDs, snacks, lunches with friends, earrings, clothing, magazines and makeup often found herself broke by the second Sunday of June.
It demonstrates how little value our society places on fathers. I guess we are like electricity in that people often take us for granted until we aren’t there. Or maybe it’s that people treat us like God – they call on us to clean up their problems and then set us aside confident we will always be there whenever needed.