Today is Father's Day, 2018. There will be several thousand blog posts about the over 70 million fathers in 'Merica today, and society will click away likes and smiley faces, as a testament to fathers everywhere. They should. Father's are critical components of society. My father, who passed away earlier this year from cancer, would have enjoyed peering through his cheaters at his phone, looking at a photo like this one my sister took, and smiling. Life is not normally continuously caught on camera, so those special moments when we straighten our backs and tug tight our sweaters for a snapshot of history, can be special memories for Dads and Granddads.
The impact of a father, cannot be measured in likes and smiley faces though. There are some better numbers to measure impact.
According to their website, The National Fatherhood Initiative, the US's leading non profit working to end father absence, a few sobering statistics about the impact of a father. Over 24 million children in the US, or 1 in 3 kids live without their father in their home. These children:
Are 2 times more likely to drop out of high school
Are 2 times more likely to face obesity
Are 4 times more likely to be in poverty
Are 2 times more likely to die as an infant
Are 7 times more likely to become pregnant as teens
A large part of fatherhood is just showing up
Showing up sounds easy. 24 million children in the US tell a different unspoken story. Showing up requires love, patience, and effort. There is effort required to be there, often times when other activities demand your time. There is patience needed to overcome frustrations when you are there. And ultimately, there is a significant amount of love needed to make the patience and effort possible. Today I am grateful for the love, patience, and effort my father and step father had. They both showed up in their own ways, and they both did what they believed to be right.
While it is sad that my father has passed away this year, and Father's Day 2018 will be the first for my family without his infectious smile and gregarious laugh, I take consolation in the fact that he would expect nothing less than that as a father, I show up, and do what I believe to be right. There are many father's who do the same every day, not only those that do it for their own children, but men who step in and show up for the children of others. This takes a big heart, and a significant amount more of love, patience, and effort.
This morning I got 2 small hugs, a couple of hand written cards, lots of I love u's, some cute notes about why I'm loved, and some terrible handwriting that when deciphered, made me tear up a little. If I were to summarize what I got out of the morning, it was "Thanks for showing up and doing what you think is right"
To every father and step father who didn't get that message this morning.
Thanks for showing up and doing what you think is right. Happy Father's Day
bvd
The impact of a father, cannot be measured in likes and smiley faces though. There are some better numbers to measure impact.
According to their website, The National Fatherhood Initiative, the US's leading non profit working to end father absence, a few sobering statistics about the impact of a father. Over 24 million children in the US, or 1 in 3 kids live without their father in their home. These children:
Are 2 times more likely to drop out of high school
Are 2 times more likely to face obesity
Are 4 times more likely to be in poverty
Are 2 times more likely to die as an infant
Are 7 times more likely to become pregnant as teens
A large part of fatherhood is just showing up
Showing up sounds easy. 24 million children in the US tell a different unspoken story. Showing up requires love, patience, and effort. There is effort required to be there, often times when other activities demand your time. There is patience needed to overcome frustrations when you are there. And ultimately, there is a significant amount of love needed to make the patience and effort possible. Today I am grateful for the love, patience, and effort my father and step father had. They both showed up in their own ways, and they both did what they believed to be right.
While it is sad that my father has passed away this year, and Father's Day 2018 will be the first for my family without his infectious smile and gregarious laugh, I take consolation in the fact that he would expect nothing less than that as a father, I show up, and do what I believe to be right. There are many father's who do the same every day, not only those that do it for their own children, but men who step in and show up for the children of others. This takes a big heart, and a significant amount more of love, patience, and effort.
This morning I got 2 small hugs, a couple of hand written cards, lots of I love u's, some cute notes about why I'm loved, and some terrible handwriting that when deciphered, made me tear up a little. If I were to summarize what I got out of the morning, it was "Thanks for showing up and doing what you think is right"
To every father and step father who didn't get that message this morning.
Thanks for showing up and doing what you think is right. Happy Father's Day
bvd
