Fathers

The officials at one prison thought it would be a good idea to provide all willing inmates with a Mother’s Day card to send to their mothers. The response from the inmates was positive. Many were glad to use them. They then decided to do the same thing for Father’s Day, the next month in June. Few responded.

Some didn’t know where, or even who, the father was.
Some knew but resented the father and refused the card.
Some were indifferent and didn’t really care enough to send a card.
A few took the card and sent it.
Contrast that with this excerpt from an unknown author’s tribute to his father.

Dad Is My Hero
The world has many heroes who have won a world of fame.
Heroes who have given their all to win in life’s great game.
But of all the famous heroes that our changing world has had,
There is not one I look up to or admire more than dad.
To me my dad’s a hero, though he’d turn away from praise.
He’s heroic in his quiet strength and gentle giving ways.
Most of us fathers find ourselves somewhere between the villain and the hero. We can’t measure up to the ideal but we can do something to move towards it.

Happy Father’s Day,

Henry Wiebe