This is the third Father's Day without my dearest Daddy. My daddy really, really wanted kids. So much so that when it didn't happen for him and my mother, they adopted me. At the time, adoptions cost $2,000, and my father earned only $3,000 each year (ok, so I'm old lol). He saved it in two years. My mother didn't work at the time (the 60s), so it was all on him. A year later, they adopted my sister with the help of my mother's family.
As Daddy grew older and weaker, he was worried about dying and leaving my mother and sister and I to fend for ourselves. As he put it, "I lived for you girls." Which came as a surprise to no one. Whatever any of us needed, he was there. My mother died a year and a half later, and my sister sent me a photo of mother and daddy's wedding with the slogan, "Someone's happy tonight."
As men get more and more devalued in our society -- at least, according to the media and pop culture -- spare a thought for all of the daddies out there living for their families. Mine was an "old white man" -- quelle horreur! -- and the best person I ever knew. God bless every father out there today, and if you still have yours, give him an extra hug today for those of us whose are gone.
