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Saturday, June 18, 2005
Happy Father's Day
By Henrylito D. Tacio
FATHER'S Day, contrary to popular misconception, was not established as a holiday in order to help greeting card manufacturers sell more cards.
In fact when a "father's day" was first proposed there were no Father's Day cards!
Mrs. Sonora B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a "father's day" in 1909. Mrs. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart.
William Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife (Mrs. Dodd's mother) died in childbirth with their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.
The first Father's Day was observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane Washington. At about the same time in various towns and cities across American other people were beginning to celebrate a "father's day."
President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day.
President Richard Nixon signed the law which finally made it permanent in 1972.
Ernest Hemingway pointed out: "To be a successful father... there's one absolute rule: when you have a kid, don't look at it for the first two years." Gabriel Garcia Marquez has this to say: "A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father."
Mario Cuomo remembers: "I watched a small man with thick calluses on both hands work fifteen and sixteen hours a day. I saw him once literally bleed from the bottoms of his feet, a man who came here uneducated, alone, unable to speak the language, who taught me all I needed to know about faith and hard work by the simple eloquence of his example."
Humorist Erma Bombeck, the author of several books including the best-selling, You Know It's Time To Go Home When You Looked Like Your Passport Picture, once told a story of a little lost girl who doesn't know whether she would miss her departing father:
"One morning, my father didn't get up and go to work. He went to the hospital and died the next day. I hadn't thought that much about him before. He was just someone who left and came home and seemed glad to see everyone at night. He opened the jar of pickles when no one else could.
He was the only one in the house who wasn't afraid to go into the basement by himself.
"He cut himself shaving, but no one kissed it or got excited about it. It was understood when it rained, he got the car and brought it around the door. When anyone was sick, he went out to get the prescription filled. He took lots of pictures but he was never in them.
"Whenever I played house, the mother doll had a lot to do. I never knew what to do with the daddy doll, so I had him say, 'I'm going off to work now,' and threw him under the bed.
Finally, here is another heartwarming story about a father and his daughter (as related by a by-stander): At an airport I over heard a father and daughter in their last moments together. The daughter's plane's departure had been announced and they were standing near the door when the father said to his daughter, "I love you. I wish you enough."
She said: "Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Daddy." They kissed good-bye and she left. He walked over toward the window where I was seated.
Standing there I could see he wanted and needed to cry. I tried not to intrude on his privacy, but he welcomed me in by asking, "Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?" "Yes, I have," I replied.
Saying that brought back memories I had of expressing my love and appreciation for all my dad had done for me. Recognizing that his days were limited, I took the time to tell him face-to-face how much he meant to me.
So I knew what this man was experiencing. "Forgive me for asking, but why is this forever good-bye?" I asked. "I am old and she lives much too far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is, her next trip back will be for my funeral," he said.
When you were saying good-bye I heard you say, 'I wish you enough.' May I ask what that means?"
He began to smile. "That's a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone." He paused for a moment, looking up, as if trying to remember it in detail and then he smiled even more.
"When we said 'I wish you enough,' we want the other person to have a life filled with enough good things to sustain them," he continued, and then turning toward me, he shared the following as if he were reciting it from memory.
"I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright."
"I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more."
"I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive."
"I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger."
"I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting."
"I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess."
"I wish you enough 'Hellos' to get you through the final Good-bye.'"
He then began to sob and walked away.
Happy Father's Day! For comments and feedback, write me at tasyo2002@yahoo.com@yahoo.com.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (June 18, 2005 issue)
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