With Father’s Day approaching, I was going through my old blog posts to see what I had written about previously in regards to dads, daughters, and husbands.  There’s no re-dos here in blog land.

• ‘10 Things Dads WILL Teach their Daughters‘ is perhaps the most consistently read post on my blog.  Day after day, two years later, people are finding this post via search engines.
• ‘Happy Father’s Day: A Letter to my Husband‘ was the #1 most-read blog post on all of Momstown.ca in 2013.  I’m proud of this one, and it’s my husband’s favourite.

But this year, Father’s Day has shifted a bit for me.  You see, there’s a little boy in our lives who recently lost his dad to cancer.  And he’s all I can think about.  He’s five years old.  Five.  The same age as my son.  We’ve tried to help- we’ve made meals, we’ve taken him on day trips, we’ve hosted playdates.  We’ve wrestled with him, blown bubbles, went golfing, and watched a movie.  We’ve been inquisitive and interested and protective and loving.  But we’re not his dad, and his hurt is fresh.

So, this Father’s Day, I challenge you, men and women alike, to ‘be a father’.
Be kind.
Be present.
Be supportive.
Be a teacher.
Be brave.
Be helpful.
Be a listener.
Be fun.
Be loving.
Be loved.

Happy Father’s Day.