Happy Dad's Day

Here's my wish to all the fathers out there.  It's a tough job and not everyone can do it.  I think in bygone days it was easier being a father.  Before women went to work, men could come home and relax.  Many men never changed a diaper or got up in the middle of the night to take their turn with feeding the baby.  Dinner was on the table, clean clothing in the closet and the kids had their homework done.  Weekends might mean mowing the lawns or doing other chores around the house, but their biggest responsibility was bringing home the bacon.  Really, it wasn't that far removed from the days of the cavemen.  LOL

But today's dad, hopefully, takes a bigger responsibility not doing the laundry and cooking but also in raising the children.  He's more involved with his children including the moment of birth.  He can change diapers, bandage a wounded knee and attend a PTO meeting.  He reads to his children at bedtime, helps them with their homework and perhaps coaches their sports teams.  We sometimes hear about superwomen who have careers and do it all, but we also have lots of supermen.

I was a lucky girl growing up.  We lived on a farm so my dad was home all the time.  Despite getting up at 4:00AM to milk the cows, he still had the energy to pass baseball with his tomboy daughter.  In the winter he played board games with us and as often as not helped my mom with the cooking.  He lectured my brothers on keeping the bathroom spotless and would pitch in and help my mother with the laundry when he had time.  He remodeled our farmhouse and taught me most of what I know about powertools.  We all learned to drive the big tractors, milk the cows and butcher(yuchy) hogs, chickens and wild game.  My brothers had to take their turns with the dishes the same as the girls did.  My dad taught me more about equality than any textbook or other life experience.  He was my hero.  He was also a real WWII hero.  My hometown honored him and many others of his generation with banners flying from the light posts of the river walk. 

My father never finished high school.  He dropped out to enlist and fight during WWII.  But he loved to read.  He kept a dictionary by his reading chair so he could look up words he didn't know.  He loved to learn.  I miss him every day.  Happy Father's Day to the best.