Father, Dad, Pops, My Old Man

I miss Daddy. Yes, I don't feel silly at all in confessing that I always called him Daddy.

Regardless of how mature I became, to me, he was always Daddy. On Father's Day, I always think about the quote attributed to Gloria Naylor: "Old as she was, she still missed her daddy sometimes."

Country star Hank Williams, Jr. said: "My daddy, he was somewhere between God and John Wayne." 

That was true in our household. My father was the supreme ruler in our home. He even looked like John Wayne when they were both young. He was a handsome young man who went to war and landed on D-Day. He survived but was emotionally scarred by the war.


On Father's Day, I think of my brothers who became wonderful fathers, and of our sons and son-in-law who also are great dads.

Then there's my husband, my own personal hero, who is the best dad in the world. I think he is the kind of father Terri Guillemets describes: "I love my father as the stars -- he's a bright shining example and a happy twinkling in my heart."

Takeaway Truth

Regardless of what kind of father yours is -- stern or relaxed, demonstrative or reserved -- today, tell him how much he means to you. Don't wait until he's gone and then futilely wish you could have just one more hour with him so you could make sure he knew how precious he was to you.