Touching Father's Day 2015

(Baonghean) - Along with Mother's Day (the second Sunday of May), Father's Day is also an opportunity for us to express our feelings and remember our great fathers, whether they are far away or right beside us. Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of June in many countries. This year, this special holiday falls on June 21st.

Father's Day originated in the United States in 1910, stemming from the story of Sonora Louise Smart Dodd. Living in Shokane, Washington, her father, William Jackson Smart, was a veteran of the American Civil War. His wife tragically passed away giving birth to their youngest child. From then on, he single-handedly raised six children. As the eldest, she witnessed and understood the hardships her father faced raising six young children alone. For Dodd, her father was a symbol of sacrifice, selflessness, and compassion. Admiring his sacrifice and boundless love for his family, Dodd decided to advocate for the establishment of a day to commemorate fathers. With the help of pastors and the Young Men's Christian Association, Father's Day was established in 1910. Since then, Father's Day has been promoted as a national holiday in the United States. Until 1972, President Richard Nixon signed into law and officially declared Father's Day a national holiday, to be commemorated on the third Sunday of June each year.

Although not as widely celebrated as Valentine's Day (February 14th), Father's Day, along with Mother's Day, is considered a special occasion for children to express their gratitude to their fathers. (Illustrative image: AFP)

From then on, Father's Day has been enthusiastically embraced by many countries around the world. The purpose of this day, along with Mother's Day, is to give children an opportunity to show and express their love and respect for their fathers. Besides the third Sunday of June, there are many other days around the world dedicated to fathers, but generally, any celebration includes flowers, gifts, a warm dinner with father, and intimate family activities.

From the day we were born, our first sensations of life were the warm, nurturing embrace of our mother. But alongside her, there was another person silently watching over us with eyes sparkling with gentle love and a smile overflowing with happiness: our father, and only our father. Our mother may be the one always by our side, caring for us in the smallest ways, watching us grow, sharing our thoughts and feelings. Our father, however, is different. He silently and diligently strives to protect the family, a towering figure, a shoulder for us to lean on during difficult times. This man may be a man of few words, but every action and gesture is filled with love, protection, and the shaping of who we are...

Just like with a mother, there's always an invisible bond between a father and his child. This connection is quieter, more subtle than with a mother, but profoundly deep and will always surge intensely at crucial moments. In the first moments of life's journey, the father silently observes, smiling. Throughout that journey, and until the very last moments, that man continues to quietly offer his loving smile, always there when needed, always with open arms waiting to welcome us...

We often forget the great sacrifices our fathers make and their role in shaping our lives. We may not spend as much time with our fathers as we do with our mothers, who are always by our side. But distance and time mean nothing when our fathers are always present in our hearts, deeply and strongly. One Father's Day is never enough; let's make every day of the year Father's Day, Mother's Day, the day of our parents, so that one day we will never regret it and can be proud that our lives have always been full of love.

Nhat Minh