Laura Haley-McNeil

6/17/18, Happy Father’s Day!

Hello, Everyone!

I hope your life is going well, and that you’re anticipating summer plans that will be fun for you. And if you’re a father, I wish you Happy Father’s Day! The one day of the year that we show our fathers how wonderful they are. Of course, we do that on their birthdays and should do that every day.

I think of my own father on this day, who worked hard, not that he had a choice because there were 6 of us, but he wanted to make sure we had every opportunity he could afford. He took us snow skiing and water skiing, taught us to ride bicycles and swim. There were the tennis lessons, piano lessons, ballet lessons and violin lessons. Summers were filled with trips to his childhood home where we rode horses and fished. Not that we always appreciated it, but as I look back on it now, I realize how much he sacrificed for us. It wasn’t until we had left home that he and mother took trips together. We as children always came first. We were very fortunate.

And to show our appreciation, poor Dad received Father’s Day gifts that he probably didn’t want or knew what to do with like that tie with the pink bubbles or the homemade ashtray for the man who didn’t smoke. He never gave anything away and when we were sorting through his things after he had gone, we found notes we’d written him and cards and letters from college that he’d saved and tucked away for a keepsake, along with that ashtray and that grotesque tie.

I know that this won’t be a special day for everyone. Maybe you, as I, have lost your father or maybe your relationship with your father wasn’t ideal. I have many friends whose fathers left when they were young and they don’t remember them. For that, I’m truly sorry, but I hope you have someone in your life you have a relationship with that will make up for that loss. I wish those with fathers and those without, much happiness and love and that you’ll think back on memories that give you joy.

I hope you have a wonderful week filled with love and excitement and enjoyment!

Love,

Laura