A Unique Fathers Day Gift

father and sonThere’s one in every life. There’s one in every mind. There’s one in every heart. We call them Fathers.

This Sunday is Fathers Day. Every year nationwide, on the 3rd Sunday of June we gather to celebrate our fathers and purchase a Fathers Day gift. You’ll see articles and advertisements of cool gadgets, accessories, power tools and other Fathers Day gift ideas. They say, “Gifts for Dad is a priority.” I do agree with gifts being important but I think we should expand the thought to include the gift of memories. Think of a story when you and your dad spent some quality time together. Make this a Fathers Day gift to be remembered.

Every Dad has his favorite memories of being a father. When a man becomes a father his life changes permanently. I don’t have any children so I can’t speak from experience. But through my friends who are fathers I’ve been fortunate to receive a glimpse of the thrills it brings. It’s not all exciting thrills though because there are tough times as well. A father takes all this and commits his life to it. His children become the priority and his life is molded around it. It’s a big responsibility, but one a good father would never let go.

My most vivid memories of my father are tied to activities we did together. When I was 10 my parents picked up my brother and me. We hopped in the van and sat quietly. My Dad was in the driver’s seat with my mom to his right. They looked back at us and hinted that we should also look behind us. There in the back of the van were 2 fishing rods! With reels! Rod, reel, line, hooks and bait. We said, “Can we go?” And he replied, “Let’s do it”! I can’t recall how many times we took those rods to the lake and fished from dawn to dusk. But I do remember staying up late preparing the tackle and then not wanting to sleep but still waking up before sunrise to get out there. I’m 31 years old now…couple years younger than my Dad was at that time, and I think it would be tough to go on such little sleep knowing come Monday work would be waiting. But he woke and fished alongside us with a smile on his face. He wasn’t the best fisherman and we didn’t care. For us the joy, and now it’s a memory, is that he was there and we stood alongside him and fished for a summer.

“I can’t imagine my life without my daughter and son, and the latter’s only been around for two months! My children are far and away the most important things in my life. No one can make me as happy as my kids. At work all I have to do is think of my daughter or son doing something cute, silly, anything, and it brings a smile and a release of stress. It is amazing how small instances become treasured memories. For instance, I’ll never forget one night when I was doing the dishes and my 18 month old daughter just came up from behind me and hugged the back of my legs. It just doesn’t get any better than that”. ~Patrick Frost

“A truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty.” ~Unknown

This year for a Fathers Day gift let’s give them our best father and son memories. Let’s remind them that our successes came from them being present in our lives. Put it in a card or on a plaque, and for the bolder present your gift and story in front of the family. No father is perfect and some have jobs that keep them away for prolonged periods of time. But in his heart he did his best to be there for you. Let him know that he is remembered.

(I write this for my dad and mom who has stood beside him for 34 years. Together – 8 children; 5 sons)

Featured image provided by Ric Booth

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Comments

  1. Funny as soon as I read ‘memories of my father’ I immediately thought of the times going fishing with him too. Those were some pretty awesome times. With us though it was always at some random creek fishing for trout. And he was a decent fisherman since he was doing it partly for food.

    By the way, I’m 31 too. So it’s nice to follow along someone my age as they build up their blog.

    • Thanks Jeremy! Same here. I have some other good memories too, like building those toy train sets, but this one definitely stood out the most.

  2. your father
    his father
    her father
    its father
    our father
    their father
    my father We all love our father.Thank you for posting such kind of article.

  3. You are so right, when a man has his first child, his life does change forever.

    My daughter will be 2 this month and my life has been greatly enriched by her. Thanks guys!

  4. John,

    Your story reminded me of one of my favorite experiences with my Dad.

    When my Dad would come home from work he would play baseball with my brother and I. My brother and I would pretend to be the pitcher and my Dad would be the catcher. He would give us encouraging comments on how well we were pitching and pretend like it hurt his hand on our “fast” pitches.

    I know my Dad was probably tired when he came home from work but he usually still had enough energy to play catch.

    • Terry,

      My Dad also played ball with my brothers and I when we were young. He preferred to bat and we all became out fielders. ha! Later I tried to be a pitcher but that didn’t work out. Whenever I go to the batting cages I always remember when he dumped a few baseball gloves out of a bag and told us to take our pick. A good memory.

  5. Hi John,

    Very touching post, John. At the end of your post could you link my blog post:

    http://ricbooth.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/father-son-fishing/

    and reference me, please? Thanks!

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