Father's love & love father 相对充满了康乃馨和祝福的母亲节来说, 父亲节则略显沉静和平常, 就像父爱, 如大山, 如明灯, 如海洋, 刚毅, 深沉, 宽广, 不肆张扬. 父亲节不只是儿女们用来感恩的一天, 为人子, 为人父, 回望曾经的父爱, 思考对子女的责任, 也许是这一天里父子们都应该做的事情. Father's Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in June. Mrs. John B. Dodd, of Washington, first proposed the idea of a "father's day" in 1909. She wanted a special day to honor her father, a Civil War veteran. After his wife died in childbirth with their sixth child, Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm. It was after Mrs. Dodd became an adult that she realized the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.

 

The mother of Father's Day
By Bill Brown

Ancient Romans honored their fathers every February, but only the dead ones. The first Father's Day for the living was in 1910, two years after the first Mother's Day.

While listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909, Mrs. Dodd of Spokane, Washington, was moved to set aside a day for fathers as well. Her own father had raised six children by himself since his wife's death in 1898. In mid-May, 1910, Mrs. Dodd asked the Spokane Ministers Association to honor fathers on June 5th, her father's birthday. They liked the idea, but delayed it until June 19th so they'd have more time to prepare sermons on fatherhood.

Spokane celebrated the first Father's Day on June 19, 1910, and Washington's governor declared the entire state should observe it. Newspapers across America reported the celebration, and William Jennings Bryan wrote to Mrs. Dodd, "Too much emphasis cannot be placed upon the relation between parent and child." But it was over 60 years before the US made Father's Day official...

In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson celebrated Father's Day by pressing a button in Washington D.C. that caused a flag to unroll in Spokane. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge recommended Father's Day be held in all states on the 3rd Sunday of June. But the all-male congress balked at attempts to make Father's Day official, lest it look like they were patting themselves on the back. In 1957, Senator Margaret Chase Smith complained it was the "most grievous insult imaginable" that Father's Day was still not an official holiday when Mother's Day had been official since 1914.

In 1971, President Nixon finally signed the law making Father's Day official, and today Father's Day is celebrated all over the world, though the date varies in some countries. The US, UK and Canada celebrate in June, but the holiday is in November in Sweden, Norway and Finland, September in Australia, on the 2nd Sunday of August in Brazil, and on Ascension Day (the 40th day after Easter) in Germany.

On Father's Day, those with living fathers wear red roses, and those whose fathers are deceased wear white roses. Pastors preach sermons honoring fathers and encouraging stronger family ties. Children give fathers small gifts and Father's Day cards. Although Father's Day cards have less variety than Mother's Day cards, they are usually much more humorous, and nowadays many people opt to save trees by sending animated, musical e-cards.

No matter how or when we celebrate Father's Day, it is a day for celebrating not just fathers but family, and few people on the planet value family more than the Chinese (one of my friends traces his ancestry back 37 generations!).

So to our Common Talk family, and our large and ancient family in China: Happy Father's Day!

 

 

Teaching with affection



My father was very strict with my brothers and sisters and me, so he left a very stern impression on my early memories. What he cared about most were good marks and prizes at school, being able to enter good universities and acquiring good jobs. We all felt slightly uncomfortable with him at that time, even though we knew that he was just carrying out his duties to support our family and take care of us children.

Now I have to play the role of father in my son's education. I try to be milder and more scientific about the task. He is only three years old and, like most kids of his age, quite naughty and unwilling to do what he is told. Occasionally, I smack his little bottom to stop him when he is doing something wrong. I don't do this as punishment. I just want him to understand from an early age that there should be some discipline and rules in life. For a man, especially, this is very important to bear in mind. Though I can sometimes be strict, I also manage to get my son to play happily with me and share his pleasures at kindergarten.

If a father can't develop a good relationship with his kids, I doubt whether he will have the skills to create a good working atmosphere at work.

I hope fathers will pay closer attention to better and more equitable communication with their children. Material gifts are good for Father's Day, but a cozy heart-to-heart talk with your kids might be more welcome, and the best gift for both children and fathers on this special day.

 

Vocabulary
smack 抽打
veteran 老兵
sermon 说教
unroll 飘扬
balk at 阻碍
grievous 难过的
deceased 去世的