Last month as we celebrated Mother’s Day, I talked about how beloved our mothers are. However, I absolutely cannot forget to mention honoring our fathers on Father’s Day, June 19.   I’m an only child and was not only blessed with a fantastic mother, who has now passed away, but an amazing, fun, smart and loving father. Often, mother’s love is heralded as being the best, but that sometimes-more-quiet, and very steady, crucial support comes from our dads.

I happened to have the coolest dad on the block when I was growing up. Ben Sharp played “kick the can” with us after work, had a model railroad that all the kids wanted to see, helped me every night with my hated math homework and patiently taught me to drive a stick shift car. When I was afraid to move from Kansas City to Chicago to take on a new job, he encouraged me to do it because, as he said, “Go! The doors to Kansas City won’t close; if you hate it you can come back.”  My dad remains a huge part of my life and, at 82, is traveling the world with his wonderful second wife, Joyce. He’s been the standard for picking my own husband which is why I was 50 years old before I found the right guy. 

P.S. We’d love to hear about your father. Please post your comments on my blog page.