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June 8, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeremy Reynalds
505 463 2873
505 877 6967

FATHER'S DAY STORY

A personal view by Jeremy Reynalds
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

Albuquerque, NM (ANS) --Do we really need to honor fathers, or is Father's Day just a clever way to make card companies rich? In fact, is there even any use for fathers any more? With the celebration being just a few days away, I decided to find out what some people are saying about dads.           

A guest staying at Joy Junction, the homeless shelter in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which I founded and direct, wrote "My father was undoubtedly one of the most loving individuals ever created. God truly blessed me to be his daughter. He was a wonderful father. He kept his life very simple. He worked hard for his family and always had a smile, a good joke and a laugh every day (and) my father had very simple philosophies, ‘don't lie, don't cheat and don't steal.'"

Reflecting on her concept of a father, another Joy Junction guest wrote "He (a father) is good, he is calm, he is big or small but he love me (sic) the way I am, he correct me when I need it. But he love me. There no one like a dad, you only get one, he love you only."

However, one youngster wasn't as fortunate. His gut wrenching post on an America on Line bulletin board read (sic) "I don't have a dad any more, He died when i was 6 years old about 1 week from his Birthday, in 1997 in 8-9-97. he died of cancer, I barley knew him at all."

It used to be beyond dispute that children need a father. Sadly, but not surprisingly, some of the  liberal academic elite don't agree with that. In a 1999 study by Yeshiva University faculty members Louise B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach titled  "Deconstructing the Essential Father" the authors studied 200 fathers and concluded that fathering as we have traditionally understood it is "neo-conservative," and that "the empirical literature does not support the idea that fathers make a unique and essential contribution to child development." 

However, as a staff writer from the Family Research Council commented on the organization's web site, "This flies in the face of over 20 years of research that shows the negative impact on children of a lack of fathering."     Not content with just posturing the academic doublespeak I've quoted above the authors of this study also claimed that they were unable to find "any empirical support that marriage enhances fathering or that marriage civilizes men and protects children."  (Tell THAT to the little guy who lost his father!) 

However, as the Family Research Council again so succinctly pointed out, this study "contradicts mountains of research conducted over the past two decades that concludes just the opposite."

Bearing in mind the unique contribution that fathers make in the lives of their children, it seems appropriate that we should have a special day honoring dads. But where did the celebration of Father's Day come from? According to information contained on www.wilstar.com, it was  Sonora Dodd (a person and not a greeting card company!) who first conceived the idea of Father's Day after listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Dodd thought it would be good to have a special day of celebration to honor her father, William Smart, a Civil War veteran. Smart's wife died while giving birth to the couple's sixth child. As a result, Smart was left to raise the newborn, along with his other five children, by himself. In Dodd's eyes, "It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was ... a courageous, selfless, and loving man."

There were some additional details about the history of the celebration on www.thefamilycorner.com.  While the original date chosen for the holiday was June 5, Mr. Smart's birthday, the celebration was postponed until June 19, the third Sunday in June, because there was not enough time to prepare.

And although in 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day, it did not become official until 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson signed the presidential proclamation decreeing the 3rd Sunday of June as Father's Day.

Happily, President Bush also realizes the importance of fathers in the lives of their children. In a recent speech he encouraged all fathers, but particularly those divorced or living apart from the mother, to become more involved in their children's lives. In that speech Bush said ever since the birth of his children, that the title of "Dad" is the most important one he has ever had.

So what are you supposed to do on Father's Day? Well, the event was described on menstuff.org as "A time to give love and thanks to all fathers, grand fathers, great grand fathers; a day for all fathers to celebrate fatherhood and contemplate their sacred duty to provide for the physical, intellectual, emotional and spiritual needs of their children and the other children of this world." www.menstuff.org

At Joy Junction, we'll be doing something special for Father's Day and helping dads realized how important they are in the lives of their children.  But whatever you end up doing, enjoy your kids this Father's Day and let them enjoy you.  And as you go through the day, I encourage you to reflect whether along with President Bush you too can say that "Dad" is the most important title you have ever had.
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Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter. (www.joyjunction.org) He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico and is pursuing his PhD in intercultural education at Biola University in Los Angeles. He is married with five children and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He may be contacted by e-mail at reynalds@joyjunction.org.

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