Father's Day to be observed today in the US

Washington, June 18 (UNI) Father's Day will be observed today in the United States which is one of the few countries in the world to have an official day designated to honour fathers.

It's a special occasion when fathers receive gifts or have dinner prepared for them or are otherwise made to feel special.

Radio and television channels are full of father's day stories -- some funny, some serious and others downright sentimental.

No one knows when or how exactly a special day to honour fathers began. Although there are some who believe that it was established by the retail industry simply to promote commercial interests like selling greeting cards or giving gifts, there are others who say it began with a church service in West Virginia in 1908.

There is a story too of how it all began when Mrs John B Dodd of Spokane, Washington, first proposed the idea of a ''Father's Day'' in 1909. She had wanted a special day to honour her father William Smart -- a civil war veteran who was widowed when his wife (Mrs Dodd's mother) 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 in eastern Washington state.

It was after Mrs Dodd became an adult that she realised the strength and selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent.

Thus the first Father's Day was observed on June 19, 1910 in Spokane, Washington. At about the same time in various towns and cities across America, other people were beginning to celebrate a ''Father's Day''.

In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father's Day. However, it became official when in 1966, President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed Father's Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the third Sunday of June.

''It is significant to set a day for honouring fathers in America. In our busy everyday world, we forget and we do not always take the time to let people who are important in our life know how much we value their influence on our life, and the sacrifices that they made to help us become what we have and so when we take an opportunity to recognize them and make it a special day, I think that is the important part,'' says Jacqueline Coffman, a Professor of Family Studies at California State University, In the early part of the 20th century, American fathers were busy being the primary breadwinners and the only time of real contact with their children was at dinner time. But, in the 1960s when women also started to work, there was a push for men to be softer and express their feelings, and take on more housework and for women to be more assertive and not following a typical stereotyped life.

Though today's fathers are more involved in their kids' lives than fathers were 50, 40 even 30 years ago, the biggest challenge facing single fathers is still the lack of social support, according to Armin Brott, author of Father for Life: A Journey of Joy, Challenge and Change.

''People look at dads who are taking care of their kids as being odd,'' he says. ''Fathers who take their kids to the park in the middle of the day, for example, often get funny looks from women who are there, as though there is something wrong with these men. There is more support, more encouragement, more help out there for single moms than for single dads. This is not to say that it's not difficult to be a single mom, but I think it's a little bit easier to be a single mom because of the support issue.'' Father's day is a day of commemoration and celebration of Dad. It is a day to not only honour one's father, but to honour all men who have acted as a father figure in your life whether they are stepfathers, uncles, grandfathers or big brothers.

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