Father’s Day is celebrated each year on the third Sunday of June (16th June, 2024). The impact of a father is as incomparable as it is irreplaceable because it has the power to shape the life and the destiny of his children. How a father responds to his child – how he nurtures or demeans, praises or criticizes, loves or withholds emotions – leaves an imprint of a lifetime on the child.

There are good fathers and there are not-so-good fathers – most lie somewhere in between – at times, heroic, at other times, flawed. But each is central to our lives, with their presence or even absence. They become part of the very definition of who we are as individuals; we view ourselves, to an extent, through their perceptions.

Fathers are the most dominant figures in a child’s life – more human and complex than we may appreciate in our youth. Which is why it’s easy, when we are young, to plant the blame of our failures on their shortcomings. But, it’s only as we get older, and are left with no choice but to take the wheel in our own hands, that we understand the challenges they faced and realize how much we miss that guiding hand and how fortunate we were to have had it at all.

That’s why Father’s Day goes way beyond just celebrating with greeting cards and cakes and gifts. It’s about commemorating the enduring legacy of fathers.

So, embrace the positive lessons and precedents he set, instead of obsessing over the negative ones. And most important of all – show up, especially if you have a senior father. Your presence and your attention, is the greatest of all gifts you will ever give him. Show up even if you’re busy, even if you can’t stay for long. Show up even if he no longer remembers your name, show up even when there’s not really much to talk about. And tell him thanks for all he’s done for you, that he matters to you and that you love him. And tomorrow, also tell him, ‘Happy Father’s Day’.

Have a lovely weekend!

– Anahita