Next Sunday we will celebrate Father's Day. This day was started in the early twentieth century to compliment Mother's Day to celebrate fatherhood and male parenting. My father was a father, I became a father and my sons became fathers. I am pretty sure this tradition will continue for many years to come. Most men become fathers during their span on this earth. Some fathers are not accountable for their actions and leave the mother to raise and provide for the results of their intimate actions. Many fathers do accept responsibility and provide help and resources needed to raise and nurture the child to become a responsible adult. I commend all fathers who have accepted the responsibility of fatherhood. Father's Day is a day for fathers that help provide and nurture their children.

In a perfect world all the fathers would feed, protect, and teach their children the means of becoming a responsible human. Unfortunately this is a broken world and most fathers fall somewhere between the perfect father and the father who will not account for his actions.

My father fell in between these boundaries. I consider myself very fortunate for having the father I had. He provided us with food, heat and clothing. He was on the upper part of the scale compared to some of the other fathers of friends I knew as I grew up. I had my issues with him. There have been times that I have commented that the most memorable thing I remember about my father is that he sat in his chair and read the newspaper from cover to cover every night and expected our mother to take care of us. My Dad was the typical Archie Bunker, He worked and his home was his throne and mother was to do everything around the house. There were times when his temper got a little out of control. However, he never used physical violence on my mother or us. He never smiled very much and sometimes I think he did not like holidays. On the other hand, he never came home drunk, was faithful to our mother, and was there throughout the years.

My Dad passed away in 1985. We had good times and bad times. I still think about him and wish I could have said some things to him before he passed on. I regret that I did not have more time to spend with him as I became older and started to realize that I should not have taken my Dad for granted. The time you have may be shorter than what you think. You can pick your friends but you do not pick your father and whatever your situation is he will always be your father. Finally, if your father is alive and near give him an extra hug and kiss this Father's Day.