Father’s Day is coming around this weekend.
For all of us, here in America. The holiday is celebrated in a lot of places all around the world. On various dates. Here in the U.S., we always give it a go on the third Sunday in June.
It started out a long time ago. St. Joseph’s Day, really. I mean, like Jesus’ Human Dad. That St. Joseph. So yes. Way back to the Middle Ages, in Catholic Europe, is when it first rolled out.
Father’s Day didn’t get a foothold in the U.S. until the 20th Century. Apparently, someone decided to honor Mother’s first, and came up with Mom’s big day in May. Probably a wild band of Florists. And then, one night over a few beers, probably, someone else thought, “Whoopsy. We may want to give a shout out to the male counterpart,” and so the day began.
Actually, it was a woman named Dodd, who paved the way. On June 19, 1910, a Father’s Day celebration was held at the YMCA in Spokane, Washington by this woman — Sonora Smart Dodd. She sure had a good Pop. Her father, the civil war veteran William Jackson Smart, was a single parent who raised his six children there. So she got out the party hats. And those little Pigs-In-Blanets with dipping sauces, and such.
This tradition took hold in Spokane, and finally, in 1913, Woodrow Wilson, the President, said “Hey. Hey. Let’s make this A DAY.” But Congress wouldn’t pass the bill. Schmucks. And wouldn’t you know? This proposal went through several Presidential Administrations and proposals (Calvin Coolidge, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson and on). Finally, Richard M. Nixon put his foot down in 1972, and signed the bill into law. I am guessing there were a lot of guys in Washington, D.C. who didn’t like their Dads. The NO votes were in control for nearly 60 years.
At any rate. Enough history. Here we are in the 21st Century, getting ready to celebrate the day.
Certain animals should be included too, I think. Like the Marmosets. Those Marmoset Monkey Guys take care of their offspring as newborns — even licking and grooming them at birth.
But none can match the Male Seahorse; I wouldn’t think. They not only get pregnant, brooding eggs in their pouch, but they’re monogamous and so mate for life. Wowsa, dudes.
Well. Then there are the Penguins. Those Dad’s sit on the egg while the mother goes out to Sea, and hunts. He just sits. He does not eat, or move from the spot. Egg Butt. He is planted there until the Mom gets back. And get this. If the egg hatches early, before she returns, the Father Penguin “produces” a curd-like substance that will feed the newborn. Gross, but good. But I’m not done. Here is the funniest part. And the sweet part. This sitting on the egg is extremely vital to the survival of the species. Important stuff. So much so that the female Penguins, during mating season, look for the pudgy male Penguins. The Fatties. That way, they have more reserves during the egg-sitting.
Hopefully, most of you still have your Dads. And hopefully, most of you had good Dads. The Egg Sitters.
I sure did.
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“What you teach your children, you also teach their children.” — Unknown
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“Any fool can have a child. That doesn’t make you a father. It’s the courage to raise a child that makes you a father.” — Barack Obama
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“When my father didn’t have my hand, he had my back.” — Linda Poindexter
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