Ask Jeanmarie - Father's Day
Jeanmarie (Witchster)
14 June 2010
Hi Jeanmarie,
My dad raised 7 girls and 1 boy by himself and did a fantastic job. Our mother walked out of our lives and never returned and our father was both mother and father and he’s never regretted a minute of it. Father’s day is coming up and I would like to do something very special for him. Honestly I would like to out do my sisters. Sorry we are always vying for his attention. We feel it’s healthy. What do you think? Our father always say “as long as my children are happy I am happy.” He appreciates when we buy him gifts but would prefer if we don’t overspend on him. How can I get his attention, make him happy on this special day and make him think I didn’t overspend?
Thanks.
It's interesting to learn that the first Father's Day Ceremony to gain National attention was to honor a Father who raised 6 children alone, including a newborn.
William Smart was a Civil War Veteran whose wife died while giving birth to their 6th child. William's daughter, Sonora Smart Dodd, was inspired while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1910 Spokane, WA. She knew her father to be a courageous, selfless, loving man who deserved recognition too. She approached her minister about having a church service dedicated to Fathers, on June 5th, her Father's birthday. She also enlisted the help of other churches and organizations to rally people to wear roses while attending church on that day, a red rose to honor a living father and a white rose to honor a deceased Father. June 5th turned out to be too soon to prepare services and get the word out, so the date was changed to June 19, 1910. On that same day Sonora traveled throughout the city of Spokane in a closed carriage to deliver gifts to Fathers.
In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson observed Father's Day and in 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended that states should hold Father's Day observances if they wished to. He wrote to the Nation's Governors --- "The widespread observance of this occasion is calculated to establish more intimate relations between Fathers and their children and also impress upon Fathers the full measure of their obligations." In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed the 3rd Sunday in June as the designated date to celebrate Father's Day. It was not until 1972, 62 years after the first Father's Day Ceremony, that President Richard Nixon signed a Public Law making the Observance of Father's Day Official and permanent.
President Coolidge had an apt view on the observance of Father's Day. Your Father certainly recognized the full measure of his obligations and lived up to them. It is only fitting then that you should observe Father's Day in a way that will establish a more intimate relationship between you and your Father.
Choose a "project" that will facilitate more "one on one" time with your Father, something you can continue to work on throughout the year, or from now on that could become a family tradition or create a family heirloom. What more could a Father want, other than your happiness, if not your love, time, attention and rapt “listening" interest?
A little sibling rivalry can be good ---just a little---and what could make them more envious than the 2 of you sharing some special interest and spending quality time together?
Here are a few gift suggestions that could bring you closer:
1. Find and frame a copy of the "Coat of Arms" for his last name and research the origin and meaning of the name and/or map out a family tree of his ancestry or create a family tree map of you and your siblings with spaces for him to write in names of spouses and names and date of birth of grandchildren and great grandchildren.
If you do not already have your Family Chronicles, start recording one by writing down all your father knows about his heritage, ancestry, their beliefs, world views, lifestyle, culture, and also any boyhood tales he remembers, games they played, ghost stories, interesting legends or colorful characters of his ancestry. You will be glad you did, your descendants will be thankful and the conversations with your Father will be priceless.
2. A Bonsai Tree. The 2 of you can learn the art and cultivate it together. I hear they can live 100 years if you can master the art of cultivation and pass down the art and the tree to the next generation.
3. A Chess Set. (Or any other card or board game the two of you can learn together or enjoy at regular intervals.)
4. Collectors Coins or Stamps. Start collecting them together.
5. An Aero-garden. (A hydroponic tabletop garden appliance). Grow herbs together year round. Explore their many uses, nutritional value and medicinal benefits; enjoy their flavorful addition to your favorite foods. Keep a journal and compile a Family Herb Cookbook together.
6. Any project that gives good reason for the 2 of you to get together and learn things about each other you never knew and never before even thought to ask.
Mark Twain wrote, "When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in 7 years".
"The older I get the smarter my father seems to get". ---Tim Russert.
Happy Fathers Day, Everyone!
Namaste and Blessed Be,
Your Witchster,
Jeanmarie
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