Happy Father's Day

Where would be best to post a wish to all the fathers for their special day?  Of course here, where I bring my ancestors to share in celebration of their lives.

So my wishes go to my sons, Marty,and Russ, who have fathered 6 children between them. Thanks for making me a grandmother!

Russ

Marty

And to Doug and David, for giving me my sons...good fathering in those gifts.   

Doug, thanks for all you have done for our amazing wonderful men.   

Doug

You really missed the boat, David, for not sticking around to be a father! 

Thinking of my own father, George, what a gentle person, and how his fathering must have been hard at times.  I was certainly a child to test his patience.  But I loved learning little tricks of creativity from him as he worked in his "shop" in the basement in evenings after a full day's work.

Then I must also remember his father, also George, who was a sweet, intelligent and talented person.  He supported his sons who grew into men, as well as built several houses from the ground up.   He also kept track of some genealogy in the 50s which kept it available for the next generations.

George Rogers, Sr.

How about his father too? He was W. Sam, and died before he had a chance to raise his children.  Another single mother who stepped into the role of both parents, and had her husband's sister and brother-in-law become guardians of her children.  I don't know why or how that happened, or what it meant to my grandfather.

I will stop here, before investigating my mother's father, Bud, who also died young.  Do I give credit to Frederick who only lived 3 years after he became a step-father, and never got around to adopting her? Her mother was a single-mom much of her life also.

There are so many things we have as reminders of our own choices in our lives when we look at ancestors.

There haven't been that many of my own ancestors who were warriors.  Some were in the Civil War, the War of 1812 and the Revolutionary War... those who died in conflicts, or maybe lived beyond them to raise their families.  

I think there's definitely a strain of courage that shows in my family's fathers...as well as the great burden of responsibility for their families.  I hope the joys that children and mothers can share have proved worth it for them all.  

I believe they were all creative men who built with their hands as well as their hearts, structures in which to live as well as relationships which survived beyond their own lives.

Thank you, Daddy.