Have you ever wondered who was the mother of Father's Day? It was Sonora Louise Dodd and the thought for Father's Day came to her in church, as she listened to her pastor extol the virtues of motherhood in his Mother's Day message. Sonora felt he failed to mention the value and importance of fathers. She felt fathers deserved equal credit and praise.
To understand her feelings, we need to learn about her father. Her father was left to care for six children after the death of his wife. The magnitude of the task confronting this father took a lot of courage and devotion. As Sonora sat in church that Mother's Day she felt that fathers deserved a special day too. She decided at that moment she was going to do something about it.
She first approached her pastor in the Spokane, Washington Ministerial Alliance and presented her idea of setting aside a special day for fathers, and she suggested June 5th (her own father's birthday). Newspapers across the nation heard about Spokane's Father's Day. William Jennings Bryan was the first nationally known figure to endorse the day. However, Congress never proclaimed the day a national holiday. Did Sonora become discouraged? She persisted in her efforts to promote Father's Day. Fifty-six years after that particular Mother's Day in her church, Sonora wrote the last of a long line of letters to President Lyndon Johnson. She urged him to support the resolution, elevating Father's Day to the same national status as Mother's Day. The resolution was finally passed in 1971. Her vision to honor father's will long be remembered as a symbol of family unity.
Sonora died at the age of 96 years. She had lived a long and full life, and we are thankful for the memory of Sonora Louise, the mother of Father's Day.
And so cheers to all you men around the world who are fathers! You may be called Pops, Pa, Pop, Papa, Pater, Dad, Daddy, or Father in the language of your culture. Fathers, you are, and you are loved, every day!
Warm Thought: A father and son were walking along the beach. The boy was lagging behind, and suddenly shouted. "Look, Daddy, I'm walking in your footsteps!" Happy Father's Day around the world!
Warm Thoughts from the Little Home on the Prairie Over a Cup of Tea by Luetta G. Werner
Published in the Marion Record. June 13th, 1996.
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Till next time,
Trina