Sweet Father's Day Memories

For me, Father's Day is filled with bitter sweet memories, of my own dad, who passed away over thirty years ago, when I was just a very young woman. I clearly remember painstakingly making special handmade gifts in school like pencil holders and paper weights for his desk at work. I also remember perusing the Father's Day Gift sales the PTA used to sponsor (and still probably do) for fundraisers, wondering what I could possibly buy him with the dollar bill my mom gave me. My dad was a smart, savvy, eclectic man with a very keen sense of humour. He had little tolerance for my mood swings, but could always make me laugh with his silly jokes. When he would call my mom from his office during the day (she was a stay-at-home mom), if I answered the phone first, he would always say to me before I passed the phone to my mom, "don't take any wooden nickels kid!". He must have said that to me hundreds of times, but it always made me laugh. I only recently learned that a young woman named Sonora Dodd, of Washington, was first to have the idea for Father's Day. Her own father was a Civil War veteran, who was left to raise six children when his wife died in childbirth. Every year I wish I could have the opportunity to buy fathers day gifts for my own dad, but now I help my kids pick out gifts for their own dad. I hope when they grow up they will have the same sweet memories of him that I have now of my dad!