On what seems like the heels of my Mother’s Day post, I did a little digging to see if I could learn anything about the origins of Father’s Day. As I understand it, the celebration was the brainchild of Sonora Smart Dodd – an idea that came to her while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Her mother had passed and so she was raised by her father and, rightly so, thought there ought to be a day to honor him. His birthday was in June and so it was that Ms. Dodd chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in their hometown of Spokane, Washington.

Well, the idea was a hit and in 1926, a National Father’s Day Committee was formed in New York City. Father’s Day was recognized by a Joint Resolution of Congress in 1956 and in 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of the day to be held on the third Sunday of June.

Nice, right? I like that it’s a holiday born in memory and gratitude by a daughter who thought that her father and all good fathers should be honored with a special day vs. an invention of the greeting card company.

So as you may have guessed that’s my father and I in the picture above - I think taken in the back yard of our home in New Kensington, Pennsylvania. (Is that right, Mom?) While it should come as no surprise, side by side comparisons of this photo and those of myself in my early twenties bear definite father/son similarities. Same full head of hair, similar glasses and I can only hope to carry on the snappy tie tradition (Father’s Day gift, perhaps?). Well, in his honor, I’d like to wish him and dads everywhere a very Happy Father’s Day. (Now go call your dad!)

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