Fatherhood
To the editor:
What is fatherhood? What makes a father or dad? Yes, you foster a child but that doesn’t make you a father. It just proves you’re a male. It says that there are about 20 million children without fathers in the home in the United States. Where are the fathers? Is their lifestyle more important to them than their children? Being a male is a chance, but being a man or father is a choice.
I worked with a man many years ago who used to beat his chest and say, “I got five kids,” and thought he was a father. So I asked him one day how his children were doing. He said, “Oh, I don’t really know how they are doing. They are with their mothers.” You see, he had five children by four women and he thought he was a father. He had no idea what it took to raise these children and it sounded like he didn’t care. Let’s call it like it is, Dead-beat-Dad.
But let’s get back to the real dads or fathers: those that are on call 24-7, those fathers that work 60-70 hours a week at two different jobs, those fathers that have gone to serve and protect our country and have to leave a wife and children behind. Those men are going over and above. Oh yes, the mom too. Well done to our military and all our fathers and mothers who are in the battlefield of life to raise their children.
Fathers have their own brand of strength and tender love that goes along with the mother to make a complete family home with the proper upbringing that children need to pattern their lives after to have a role model to pass on to the next generation. You see it takes a man and woman to give and keep the right balance in the home and raise children with the proper outlook on life.
As Father’s Day draws near, are we the fathers that we would have our children and grandchildren to be like? Again, what kind of model are you? Take a good look at yourself in the mirror of life and see if you like what you see.
But to all of the hard-working and dedicated fathers, have a very good and joyous Father’s Day with your family.
David L. Cyr Jr.
Presque Isle
