Happy Fathers Day to anyone out there who has been a role model in a child’s life. Remember you are a crucial part of that child’s upbringing. And to those of us who have lost a parent, I know these holidays can be difficult, but let’s remember how important our parents were in our upbringing and do our best to carry that tradition on to younger generations.
Many of those present day role models, whether they are a parent or not, showed their support for children by participating in our 100 Holes of Golf Fundraiser and we are so thankful for them!
As we did with Mothers Day, we asked our board members to share memories of their Dad or a male role model. The responses are so heartfelt. Enjoy!
Pam (see photo above)
I was without a doubt, ‘Daddy’s Little Girl’. He tried so hard to make sure I had everything I wanted. In the late 1970’s (I believe) there was a commercial for Juicy Fruit Gum. The song sang “Let’s pick a pack of Juicy Fruit Gum. Let’s pick a pack from the Juicy Fruit Tree”. So I, being very young, thought Juicy Fruit Gum really grew on trees. One night, my Dad bought all the Juicy Fruit Gum in our town and probably all the surrounding towns, and all the rubber cement, and actually made me a juicy fruit tree. There were hundreds of packs in the tree and he told me the rubber cement was the sap… It was amazing!
Cathy
Silly, but my most vivid memories of my dad when we were younger revolved around tax season. I’d help him sort receipts, compile documents, and work with him to prepare everything. To think about that now, how much patience did he have having a messy, sticky kid touch all of his stuff to help us learn a little about what he was doing?
Craig
In high school, my younger brother and I were on the boxing team. Each year for our big fight night, my foster dad, who was the administrator at the local soldiers and sailors home, would bring an entire busload of residents to watch the fights. The school made a big deal of recognizing them and their service to our country, and they enjoyed the night out, but I think he just wanted us to have the biggest cheering section!
Joe
My dad would come home from work tired almost every day. I could see it on his face and in the way he walked around the house. But EVERY time I asked him to play basketball or catch with me, he always said yes. He was always present. Pretty amazing stuff.
Kristin
Cutting out, dating and saving every article from the Sun Herald or Cleveland Plain Dealer about my high school softball career as well as my business career.
Tom
A memory of my Dad is how he always gave the best advice. He had a knack for explaining how things might end up if I chose various paths. However, the best advice I ever received from him was to always follow your gut when facing a difficult decision. It hasn’t steered me wrong yet!
Dana
My mom worked Saturday mornings at the bank. My dad always took us to Krispy Kreme to get a dozen donuts and we would eat and share them at my grandma’s house. It still comes up time and time again, and almost every holiday that we were at Grandma’s, and then Uncle Bill’s after she passed – EVERY SATURDAY! It was also the only time we were really ever allowed to eat sugar. Nonetheless, such a great memory that we hold close with dad!
Krissy
On weekends, my dad would take my siblings and I “visiting”. We would stop by to visit with our many aunts, uncles & cousins at their homes. My dad could fix just about any appliance, so our visits were sometimes determined by who had a bum washer, refrigerator, etc. While we were excited to get to hang out and play with cousins, he was showing us the importance of family and staying in-touch. To this day, our very large family is still very much in contact.
Jac
Great lengths for great happiness.
I have countless memories where my parents went above and beyond but this story always stuck out in my mind; the time my dad demonstrated he would go any distance to make me happy.
As a child, I was obsessed with animals. After watching Free Willy, Flipper, and Andre, I was certain I was going to become a marine biologist. And when I say after watching those movies, I mean after watching them well over 100 + times, as anyone who knew me would testify that I had a minor obsession. Free Willy came out in 1993, Andre in 1994, and Flipper in 1996; so for 3 years we only watched movies related to marine life; aka those three movies…over…and over…and over again. When deciding our family vacation in 1996 I had it set in my mind that we would go find Free Willy’s family in the ocean, while visiting Flipper, and then swimming to Andre’s home in Maine.
At the wise age of 8, I begged and cried and pleaded with my family to make the trip to see my marine animal idols. My dad drove my entire family 834 miles for 13 hours to Maine, for me to get out of the car, look at the Andre statue for 5 minutes and say, “Wow this is great, we can go now”. I don’t remember how my family reacted to my short attention span, but I do know we made it to see Andre’s home and then went whale watching in Gloucester Massachusetts in an effort for me to locate Willy’s and/or Flipper’s family. Quite the distance to fulfill an 8 year old’s dream and just a small reminder my parents will go any distance or length to ensure their children are happy.
