Fatherhood--the Most Important Role a Man Can Have

Whether a man is a biological father, an adoptive father, a step-father, a favorite uncle, or a kindly neighbor, being a father figure to a child is the most important role a man can have. Mentoring a child into maturity, endowing them with self-worth, not false self-esteem, can have a life-time affect. Memories of activities, adventures, and simply just time well spent will stay with a child forever. The building bones of character and moral compass comes from these relationships.

I have many treasured memories of my father as I grew up. He was often somewhat of a taskmaster with discipline,  but he had his softer sides. Quite often our weekends were toodling around rural New England seeing sights and visiting distant relatives. My mom could usually find a gift shop that displayed many different types of baskets. She would cajole my father into stopping. He always bought her some type of  basket in which she could store her sewing or knitting supplies. And, always this was topped off with ice cream cones.

Sometimes my dad would say, "Anyone want to go ..." fishing, or boating on the reservoir, or to a ballgame at Fenway Park. My sisters usually weren't interested, so it would be my dad and me. As another girl, it wasn't that I was that fond of fishing, though I loved going to Fenway. It's just I loved spending time with my dad.

It's VERY important fathers offer their time to their kids. And it's VERY important for kids to perceive these times as  building blocks of forever memories. What you DO isn't important. It isn't necessary to make great plans that are complex or expensive. Just time--alone, Dad and Kid.

My dad has passed on, and not a day goes by but I miss him. But I have the memories of fishing, boating, and riding the Post Road Bus to Boston to spend whole days in Boston at Fenway Park. They were times of just the two of us, cherished in my heart and mind forever.

If you have the heart of a child, or still have a father, or father figure, do something special this Father's Day to create some lasting, character building memories.