Ghanaian Times: Father’s Day: An appropriate time to celebrate fatherhood

Father’s Day is a day set aside to celebrate fathers on the third Sunday in June every year.

Historically, the day was founded by a woman named Sonora Smart Dodd, who after listening to a Mother’s Day sermon at the Central Methodist Episcopal Church in Spokane, Washington, in 1909, conceived the idea to set aside a similar day for fathers.

Since then, the day has been celebrated across the world to appreciate and celebrate the enduring legacy of fathers and the power they have to shape the lives of their sons and daughters

It is also to celebrate the real impact of fatherhood; those gallant men who break their backs day in day out to make sure there is food on the table and roof over the head.

The day is also about the father who, despite all odds, loves their children and does the best they can to provide a steady family life and help raise well-adjusted kids through sound parental advice.

Though many of these fathers may not be perfect human beings, they are nonetheless the pivot around which many successful families revolve and by extension, nations.

Also their legendary role in supporting family units to attain success and prominence cannot be lost on anyone.

In much the same way, however, there are fathers who are weak and play no role in the life of their children. The absence of such role models often had negative impact on the character of those children and in essence on the nation.

These are not the fathers that are being celebrated. And as we celebrate the day, it is important for all fathers and everyone recognised as such, to reflect on the role he is playing to find out whether he is living up to expectation.

This will help them identify their shortfalls and make up for them. Every child needs both parents to play a role in their lives unless they are deceased or incapacitated by one reason or the other.

The role of fathers can be linked to the development of human resource therefore should not be shirked

It is for this reason that we hail fathers who have braced the odds and lived up to the expectation. It is our expectation that fate will be generous to them so they continue with their good works.

We say Congratulations to all fathers, dads and daddies on this their day of acknowledgement.

May each of them renew his obligations of extreme importance to his family and subsequently to our society and nation.