Saturday, June 17, 2006
Dear Readers: Today is Father's Day, and we hope you are spending some time with your father or those father figures who have been a positive influence in your life. Here is one of our favorite essays for this special day:
A great man died today. He wasn't a world leader or a famous doctor or a war hero or a sports figure. He was no business tycoon, and you would never see his name in the financial pages. But he was one of the greatest men who ever lived. He was my father.
I guess you might say he was a person who was never interested in getting credit or receiving honors. He did corny things like pay his bills on time, go to church on Sunday and serve as an officer in the PTA. He helped his kids with their homework and drove his wife to do the grocery shopping Thursday nights. He got a great kick out of hauling his teenagers and their friends around to and from football games.
Dad enjoyed simple pastimes like picnics in the park and pitching horseshoes. Opera wasn't exactly his thing. He liked country music, mowing the grass and running with the dog. He didn't own a tuxedo, and I'm sure he never tasted smoked salmon or caviar.
Tonight is my first night without him. I am sorry now for the times I didn't show him the proper respect. But I am grateful for a lot of other things. I am thankful that God let me have my father for 15 years. And I am happy that I was able to let him know how much I loved him.
That wonderful man died with a smile on his face and fulfillment in his heart. He knew that he was a great success as a husband and a father, a brother, a son and a friend. I wonder how many millionaires can say that. His Daughter
Dear Annie: I'd like to say something about what makes a parent. A sperm and an egg create a child. They do not create a mother and father. A mother and father are the people who raise the child. They support the child financially. They teach the child right from wrong. They comfort the child after a nightmare. They kiss boo-boos.
I am father to a 7-year-old child who did not come from my sperm, but she is my daughter. I am in the process of adopting her, although her birth father is making that difficult, even though he abandoned her before she was born and never has had any interest in her. I have been her father since she was 3. I am the one she calls when she has a nightmare. I am the one who teaches her to share. I am the one who teaches her manners. I am the one who helps with her homework. I am the one she calls Daddy. I am her father. Trying To Adopt My Daughter
Dear Trying to Adopt: You are a father in the truest sense of the word. We hope you are successful in adopting this child, who obviously loves you as much as you do her.
Dear Annie: I read the letter from "Louisville, Ky.," the parents who were expecting their third daughter. We had a couple in our church who were expecting their third daughter. I recall one of our members saying to them, "I can't think of anything nicer than having three girls, except having four girls, like we do."
If only there were more kindness like this in the world. A Daily Reader from Arizona
Dear Arizona: How lovely. We hope our readers will remember to be kind. It can make a world of difference in someone's life.
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Creators Syndicate
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