Father's Day 2011

It has been a humid rainy Father's Day weekend in Boone County Indiana.  A day established to celebrate the joy of fatherhood, it is one of those holidays that most of the fathers who are buried in Howard Cemetery would not have had a chance to celebrate.  The holiday is a 20th century invention to compliment the Mother's Day observance;  a way to celebrate the father contribution to the raising of the children, that at it's time of first usage, in the early 1900's was a very specific niche in the family.  A father was the person who went to work, and provided for his family and children.  He would teach the boys the things they would need to know to be successful men.  The girls would see what a successful spouse was like in looking to their father. The role of father has evolved greatly throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century.  If one could go back and spy on a late 19th or early 20th century father; could we find one that knew how to prepare a meal, change a diaper, or see to the emotional needs of children.  I am not trying to make fathers of that era sound barbaric, but they had a specific needed role to play, and most of the populace did not have  leisure time; especially in a rural farming community.  The mores of the time had specific rules for both the parents in a family.  A father of today, more likely than not, can feed a child, change a diaper and is very involved in the day to day rearing of the children, this was not the case in the past.  The majority of children after the death of a mother in the 19th century and early 20th century were fostered out to friends and family.  Fathers were seen as incapable of taking care of a small child; only females were prepared for that.  Fathers have evolved grown and changed the world around us, so today no matter old or new we Thank You our fathers for the job that you have done.