Happy Father's Day 2011!

Today is a day to remember the man in your life you called "Father". This day brings up many emotions for people. For some children it is happiness. Happy that the man in their life is their father and acts in that role for them. For others, it is sadness as the man they call father might be in the service and away at war right now or might be absent in their life for another reason. For some it is anger. Anger that might be today only if you are a teenager because your father won't let you use the car or long standing anger about a father who abuse, abandoned or neglected you.

And for others, the day brings up much grief and loss. For many older adults, the day is reminder of how long ago the man they called father passed away while a younger person might see other children in church today or at an event honoring a father they never knew.

Hopefully the child has a man in his or her life. A man that can act fatherly maybe mentoring or volunteering time at ymca or school to coach a shool sport team or just in general be around to support children whose fathers are absent.

What ever this day is for you try not to make it about you. Try to make it about celebrating a man in your life who gave you something, did something for you or in general was nice to you and you can stop and think he's a nice guy. Maybe he too is going through alot today. Maybe he didn't have any children or maybe he had a child he never met and does not know about or even had a child and lost that child to illness and death.

The point I guess I am trying to make is that sometimes it is good to try and get out of ourselves and honor another and if this is the day you can honor a man who mentored, volunteered, helped or gave you something then it's been a good day. Remember there are alot of men out there in nursing homes who have lost their families and are alone today.

A call, a card, a hello and how is your day can brighten the spirits of any man who no one visits or has alot of time for. Maybe you can be that person today. Happy Father's Day to all the men who have volunteered, mentor, fathered biological children, help raised other men's children, coached or served this country, we thank you and honor you today.