I'm a man. I've been married and divorced, and I have two wonderful adult daughters. As they grew up, I told them often that I loved them. To this day, whenever we part company or end a phone conversation we both say 'I love you"
I think I'm a pretty good father, my daughters tell me I am. I grew up with a pretty good role model for a father.
But something happened when I was growing up. I hit my teen years, and teen boys don't tell their father that they love him. Then, I hit my 20's and started a family of my own. I sometimes sought advice from dad about raising my children because he was a wealth of wisdom and knowledge. In my 30's I still talked to dad, got advice and support.
Time went on and I never told dad that I loved him, and one day I hit 40. I hadn't told my father the words "I love you" since I was 8 or 9. It's not manly to love another man.
So I'm driving home from work one day, listening to the (conservative talk show) radio station and the local on air host announces that his father passed away the day before. It's not Fathers Day, but he calls it his "Fathers Day". He asks men to call in and talk about their fathers. At the end of every call he tells the man to tell his father that he loves him. It was a twenty minute ride home for me. I had tears in my eyes when I got home. I turned on the radio in my house and listened to the rest of the show, which is something I never do.
So many men called in, telling the host how their father had died and they had never told their father that they loved him. Their regret for missing that, failing to do so.
I called my father that night. I told him that I loved him. I was 40 years old and it was the first time either of us had said those words to each other in over 30 years. Since that day, we both say it more often now. I talked to my father today and we both said 'I love you" before we hung up the phone.
Men,
if you are son, call your father today and tell him you love him.
If you are a father of an adult son, call him and tell him you love him.
Take the time on this Fathers Day. Don't live with regrets.
I think I'm a pretty good father, my daughters tell me I am. I grew up with a pretty good role model for a father.
But something happened when I was growing up. I hit my teen years, and teen boys don't tell their father that they love him. Then, I hit my 20's and started a family of my own. I sometimes sought advice from dad about raising my children because he was a wealth of wisdom and knowledge. In my 30's I still talked to dad, got advice and support.
Time went on and I never told dad that I loved him, and one day I hit 40. I hadn't told my father the words "I love you" since I was 8 or 9. It's not manly to love another man.
So I'm driving home from work one day, listening to the (conservative talk show) radio station and the local on air host announces that his father passed away the day before. It's not Fathers Day, but he calls it his "Fathers Day". He asks men to call in and talk about their fathers. At the end of every call he tells the man to tell his father that he loves him. It was a twenty minute ride home for me. I had tears in my eyes when I got home. I turned on the radio in my house and listened to the rest of the show, which is something I never do.
So many men called in, telling the host how their father had died and they had never told their father that they loved him. Their regret for missing that, failing to do so.
I called my father that night. I told him that I loved him. I was 40 years old and it was the first time either of us had said those words to each other in over 30 years. Since that day, we both say it more often now. I talked to my father today and we both said 'I love you" before we hung up the phone.
Men,
if you are son, call your father today and tell him you love him.
If you are a father of an adult son, call him and tell him you love him.
Take the time on this Fathers Day. Don't live with regrets.
