Happy Father's Day

Hi neighbors. This Sunday is Father's Day and I hope you have your fathers still alive, well and nearby so you can show them firsthand how much you love them.

For those whose fathers cannot be with them because they are far away, incapacitated or deceased; there are still ways to share the spirit of Father's Day with them.

Many children have their fathers serving in the military and cannot have them at home or go visit them during the holiday. Thank goodness for the Internet, video phones, computers with cameras and telephones to share one-on-one time with fathers and their children.

Many children call their fathers on Father's Day. An old statistic was that the most calls home to parents came on Mother's Day; the most collect calls home came on Father's Day. Let's hope that statistic has changed.

Don't forget that because someone isn't your father, they are most likely someone's father (or at least some father's son) and they deserve a kind word or deed on the day devoted to them. Some fathers go unrecognized and unvisited on Father's Day in nursing homes or public shelters because they have no one to share that day with them.

If you can't be with your own father, try to share the day with some father who can't be with their family.

No matter what activities you may have planned for your family on Father's Day, remember that it is the time spent together as a family honoring the patriarch of that group that makes the day special.

Today there are many different types of families, some have more than one person who might act in a fatherly role, some have no males in the household. What constitutes a family is simply a group of individuals of various ages, genders and interests devoted to protecting and providing for each other in an atmosphere of mutual trust, love and commitment.

Also, today's families don't expect an individual alpha male to provide and protect single-handedly. Family connections are as strong as ever, but roles within families are constantly changing.

Think back to your childhood and decide for yourself who were the role models for you. Whom did you ask for advice about careers? Sports? How to fight -- and when? Which college to attend? Who to date? How to drive? What was the right decision to make when faced with a challenge?

These questions and many others determined the person whom you felt knew the right answers to give you when you asked them important questions.

When you think of whom that person, or persons, was; then you can decide whom your "father" was. He might not have even been a relative. He might not have been older than you. He may not have even been male.

But you might want to save a little time on Father's Day to visit with whomever that person turns out to be.

My father has passed on, but I like to take time on Father's Day to look at old photos, reflect on how he helped shape my life choices and remember all the memories I have of him.

I like to think we each have various "fathers" that pass through our lives. For example, those men who offer you a hand when walking on an icy sidewalk; those stoic and quieting individuals who over-ride the sounds of calamity with calm voices and a steady show of courage.

We all see in many men the aspects best remembered as seen in our own fathers.

Until the next time friends, remember, that Father's Day is about the honor, responsibility, commitment and glory of fatherhood. This Father's Day, celebrate all the father role models in your life and their contribution to your own being.