THE ROLES OF FATHERHOOD

 
- Desiree Samuels, Contributing Writer

With Father’s Day coming up, I’ve been thinking  about the task of “fatherhood’’ in this ever changing environment  we live in.  Roles are certainly different today than the more traditional roles when my generation was growing up.  We now have fathers of all kinds, the traditional paycheck earning and family head, the stay-at-home dad who raises the kids, the single dad who bears the burden of simultaneously tending to children and earning a paycheck, the divorced dad who is remarried and supporting two sets of children from two different women….etc.  The list goes on and on.  Times have changed and these men deserve as much (if not more) recognition as moms do on their special day.

On that note, I want to mention the exceptional father in my life that I am blessed to be married to. When Joel & I met, he was already a father to three boys ages 5, 7 & 9. I was fearful then to enter a relation with 3 others attached.  Joel always assured me that his heart was big enough to accommodate all the love in the world for everyone. And indeed he was right.  We’ve been married for 7 years,  and we have a four-year-old son, William.  So Joel is now the father of four sons.   I watch him on a daily basis, he adheres to his original promise.  He’s been involved intensely in the lives of his older children every moment of the day.  He has managed all their problems, incidents at school, issues with their mom, college applications, college dropoffs…etc.   And at the same time, he’s been available 100% to his new family which includes myself and William.  I don’t know how he does it.  He has literally been in charge of two families both financially and emotionally.   Like clockwork he continues to fulfill his obligations – parental, emotional, financial -- to all his children.  I really don’t know what to call a father like that. These men are none less than Superman in action.

It is nice and reassuring to know in this ever changing world, men like this exist.  Men that stay true to their commitments in life due to their innate integrity and love.  So this Father’s Day, let’s salute these men who go out and beyond way to support their children, wives, mothers, and the people they love. Maybe we are heading to a world that is changing for the better. Happy Father’s Day to all those deserving hard working DADS...We love you all!