If you’re a dad or a dad to be, Happy Father’s Day to you!
Its a great thing to be a dad! In 1910, a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd thought so too; so much so that she wanted to make a celebration and holiday out of it.
As a young woman living in Spokane Washington, Sonora saw her father become the sole parent of 6 children when his wife died during the birth of their last child. This, of course, affected her greatly. As she saw how her father rose to this occasion and how he loved, cared for, and raised all the children by himself, she was deeply touched.
When she heard of the first Mother’s Day being celebrated, Sonora wanted to honor her wonderful father in the same way.
Ms. Dodd talked to her pastor who helped her approach the YMCA who also was supportive of the idea. So, it was decided Father’s Day would be celebrated there in Washington State in 1910, but when?
Sonora had suggested her father’s birthday which was June 5th, but, there wasn’t enough time to get everything ready by then, so, it was celebrated on June 19th. The organizers even incorporated the idea from the celebration of Mother’s Day to wear flowers to church to honor one’s parent. Red for your living father and white for a father who had passed away.
Unfortunately, many thought this idea to honor fathers in the same way people wanted to honor mothers was silly. They suggested that it was just a way to commercialize another thing in life. There were several attempts to make it a national holiday, but all were defeated. Interestingly enough, it was a senator from our great state of Maine who in 1957 made a persuasive argument that by the nation only celebrating Mother’s Day, it was only allowing us to honor half of our parents. We have a mother and a father and both are special and important.
Finally in 1966 Lyndon Johnson ordered a presidential proclamation that the 3rd Sunday in June would be designated as Father’s Day. Then, in 1972, Nixon signed this proclamation into law….and ever since we’ve celebrated Father’s Day in the U.S.
Many other nations celebrate Father’s Day as well, or at least have some other date honoring fathers at this point. To me, this is important. Dads are awesome, fun, exciting…. and totally different, but equally as special, as moms!
So, Happy Father’s Day all you dads. Enjoy your special day, and hug each of your kids a little extra….cause without them, you wouldn’t be a Father!