Happy Father’s Day today – a day to think about our fathers and father figures thank them for their support, reflect on the past together and look forward to the new.
My understanding is that this tradition first started in the US. There are two stories of when the first Father’s Day was celebrated in the US. The earlier account took place in Fairmont, West Virginia on July 5, 1908. Grace Golden Clayton suggested to the minister of the local Methodist church that they hold services to celebrate fathers after a deadly mine explosion killed 361 men.
The later account was celebrated in Washington state on June 19, 1910. A lady called Sonora Smart Dodd came up with the idea of honouring her father while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon at church in 1909. She felt mothers were getting all the acclaim while fathers were equally deserving of a day of praise.
Sonora’s dad was quite a man. William Smart, a veteran of the Civil War, was left a widower when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. He went on to raise the six children by himself on their farm in Washington. To show her appreciation for all the hard work and love William gave to her and her siblings, Sonora thought there should be a day to pay homage to him and other dads like him. She initially suggested June 5th, the anniversary of her father’s death to be the designated day to celebrate Father’s Day, but due to some bad planning, the celebration in Spokane, Washington was deferred to the third Sunday in June.
For those of you who are fathers and entrepreneurs (fatherpreneurs) you have the joy of spending a wonderful day with your children and also the benefit of reflecting on your business venture(s) (your other baby(ies)).
It’s never too late to become a better father!
All the best
Selchouk Sami
