Special Dad's & The Father behind Fathers Day!

" Any man can be a father but it takes a SPECIAL to be a DAD! "

The above statement is what I truly can relate to as my dad, who is no longer among us, is someone who was this special DAD!  What made him that was that he wasn't my biological father though bounded by blood as he was my grandfather a gentleman and kind-hearted man and raised me and his children in absence of another wife when his wife, my grandma died of a heart-disease at a the young age of 42. He didn't dare to bring another woman as he wasn't sure we would be treated well!

"[He] adopted a role called Being a Father so that his child would have something mythical and infinitely important: a Protector. 

I'm not going to reveal more of my story for now anyway as it is another true story that I found and want to share with you. Although I wanted  to mention my hero and that he gave me the love of a good father and was, what I was taught to call him as long as I can remember, my wonderful DAD!  A most gentle person and one I miss very much.

That said I want to encourage you to take care of your Special Dad and take time to show your love before you continue the reading to the story about the father behind the fathers day!

      

 " Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes."

The story about the Fathers Day

The all started in United States by Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington who was inspired by Mother's Day and wanted to honor her own father. You can read the story here or go to My heritage blog where it's originally written.

The idea for Father's Day originated in the United States with Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington. She was inspired by Mother's Day, the special day to honor our mothers, and felt it would be right to create a day to honor fathers. She wanted to honor her own father, William Smart, a Civil War veteran. William had single-handedly raised his motherless children on an eastern Washington farm.


Sonora described her father as “both mother and father to us for 21 years.” He had five children with his first wife who died, six with his second wife who also died, and raised three stepchildren from his second wife's children from a previous marriage. He was a real family man! 

Through the years, William provided for his large household and cared for his children with and without the help of a spouse. In the following record from the 1880 US census, William, 37, was married to his second wife, Ellen Victoria. There were 12 people in the household: William, Ellen Victoria, five children from William’s first marriage (Mary, Martha, William, Susan, and Annie) and three children from Ellen Victoria’s previous marriage (John, James, and Liuary. William's sister Marthy was also living with the family, along with her daughter Dora.     Sonara was born two years after this census record, in 1882, and was the only daughter of William and Ellen Victoria. When Ellen Victoria died in 1898, William continued to raise their collection of children, by himself.

In 1909, Sonara asked the Spokane Ministerial Alliance about creating "Honor Thy Father's Day." She originally intended that Father's Day would be celebrated on June 5 - her father's birthday. But there wasn't enough time for the clergy to prepare their first sermons. So in 1910, the first Father's Day was held on the third Sunday in June. On July 19, 1910, the Governor of the State of Washington proclaimed the nation’s first “Father’s Day.”

The holiday did not have much success at the beginning, so in the 1930s, Sonara Smart Dodd enlisted the help of retailers, saying that they would benefit from the holiday, being able to sell gifts for fathers, such as neckties, tobacco pipes, books, and more.

Americans perceived Father's Day as an attempt by merchants to achieve the same commercial success as Mother's Day. The public did not embrace Father's Day, and it was a few decades before Dodd and the trade groups finally succeeded in making Father's Day something special. In 1972, US President Richard Nixon signed a proclamation honoring Father’s Day as an official, nationwide holiday in the United States.

Father's Day celebrations in other countries were inspired by the original American custom of Father's Day. In Canada, the UK and the US, Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June. Many other countries, such as Argentina, France, Greece, India, Ireland, Mexico, Pakistan, Singapore, South Africa, Venezuela, Australia and New Zealand celebrate Father's Day in June, as well. 

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" I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection."
                                                      

My loving brother and his heart 

" It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons. "

thank you for sharing!!!

I would love to hear from you, your thoughts and reflections :)