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So today is the day we celebrate our dads. Today is the day we say “Happy Father’s Day”.
My dad is a hero of mine. He is a teacher, a solider, a thinker. He showed me all of those. More importantly, he gave my brother and I the great gift of growing up in a home filled with love and laughter. We grew up in a home where we knew that we were loved, and we knew that our mother was loved, and I am certain now that there is no greater gift.
Before the Cars For Hope charity existed, I travelled the east coast of Australia to meet people and learn more about depression and the affect it could have on families. I met an elderly man named Phil, he went on to share his story with me and then broke down crying on my shoulder. He had told me that he had lost his son to suicide. That moment has never left me.
That’s a bit of my story – today is an easy reason to celebrate. But I am writing this because I know that not everyone has been so fortunate. I know that today is not an easy day for everyone. It’s strange the way days designed for giving can remind us what’s been taken. Some have little or nothing to celebrate. For others, it is simply a day that hurts, a day to mourn.
If you follow Cars For Hope’s social media channels you might have seen this Father’s Day message we’ve been putting out there for the past week. And today I’d like to expand on that.
For those of you with great dads, embrace this day. Tell him you love him. Give him a hug. For those of you without, know that we’re with you today. Hope exists for people in need of hope. Community is a real and possible thing, like family we choose. We’re all in this together.
