I am 72, my father died in June 1960.

[TNNurse]

He was 50, I was 10. The only grandfather I knew had died when I was 8. I was his favorite.

We did not have children....I do not have many memories of my father...one picture of the two of us. I was the third child...photos were not as frequent. My father worked several jobs to provide for us.

I hate Father's Day. Interestingly...our mother died 31 years later, my sister hate's Mother's Day. I have more memories so it is not so hard. She was 16 when Daddy died...she has more memories.

[gopiscrap]

1. I fully understand

my biological father died before my birth and the man who adopted me and I knew as "dad" died a week before Christmas when I was 7 years old as a result of the Vietnam War

[TNNurse]

4. It is just what I know.

When people ask what it was like growing up without my father.

My mother was 46, she never remarried.

[gopiscrap]

7. after my adopted dad died

mine didn't either

[LuckyCharms]

2. I'm sorry, TNNurse.

I don't like Father's Day either.

I'm 63, father died in 1970 when I was 11.

Father-in-Law died exactly 39 years later, to the same calendar day, that my father did, with just me in the room.

[pwb]

3. It is not a celebration for a Father

who has lost a child.

[TNNurse]

5. Absolutely Not.

[Arkansas Granny]

6. Truth.

[purr-rat beauty]

23. My first love and a good friend recently passed

It's been hard celebrating imaginging her father's pain. He was so kind and at her wake he remembered me from over 30 years ago when i dated his daughter.She was only 44.

My atepdad who adopted me died 13 yea4s ago
I have no connection with my biological dad
My wife is also estranged from hers

I love my kids but sadly it doesn't strike me as a day to celebrate right now

[Karadeniz]

8. People who had lovely childhoods are few and far between !!!

[JanMichael]

14. Ain't that a fact. Tolstoy...

"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."

[Mr.Bill]

16. I had a lovely childhood.

I just didn't always realize it at the time.

[mgardener]

9. I was almost 11 when my dad died in '65

He was 39, killed in a plane crash
Sister and I hated Father's Day, my mother would sit and cry for most of the day.
She was 8. I have more memories of my dad then she does.
Having kids and now a grandson made it a nice holiday for me again.

I did think about my dad today.

[JI7]

10. I never cared for these type of days . Though I am lucky to still have

both parents into adulthood.

But I do think of those that lost them including parents that lost kids.

And then there are the ones with shitty parents.

It's also hurtful for those that recently lost parents or kids.

And now with social media everyone posting pics can make it more difficult for some.

[deurbano]

11. With my shitty parents and my husband's shitty step-father, we still felt compelled

to tick the box of "celebrating" those days, but it was extremely challenging to find relevant greeting cards! They had to be funny or very impersonal. Now I send my mom flowers with the card from the florist just saying "Happy Mother's Day, Nana! Love, [the names of our nuclear family]"

[Meowmee]

12. This my first one without my father

Last edited Sun Jun 19, 2022, 10:23 PM - Edit history (1)

It is very painful and I can’t remember now what I got him last year, it was not the same because he was very ill and destroyed after covid. I think it may always be painful now, this country and the hospital murdered him and he died 10 months after, being tortured for the entire time.

My mother died 30 years before him, also with trauma, and I have never celebrated Mother’s Day since then. Before she died the last mother’s day I gave her some diamond earrings. Later when I had had a car accident I needed to have someone help clean- they stole those earrings. I don’t remember what I felt like the first Mother’s Day I think it was painful but then in time I just didn’t think about it as much except I feel that I don’t have my mother anymore. But my father did start giving me Mother’s Day cards because I am a mom to my cats.

[MLAA]

19. How sweet your dad acknowledged you are the mom to cats 🙂❤️

[Meowmee]

20. Yes that was so nice.. he loved animals too 😀

I guess I should give myself a mother’s day card now 😹

[Historic NY]

13. I lost both my parents before I was 12,

and aunt who took us in a few years later. Had a witch of a stepmother that we (twin) left home from shortly after my fathers death. We never looked back. I only wish we had more time together. I lost my twin back in 2017, was adrift for sometime but on the rebound again.

[Skittles]

24. too much tragedy

hoping you are doing well

[70sEraVet]

15. I honestly don't think that I look BACK on father's Day.

I always call my uncle ( just as I call my aunt on mother's day), because they have always been there for me since I was a troubled teenager. But for me its mostly a chance to connect with my kids, who are busy with jobs and families of their own. My oldest daughter promises to take me to a seafood restaurant next weekend, and I told her that I would wear a hardhat (she attacks crab legs like Marines taking Iwo Jima)!
I had posted something earlier today on another site:
"My greatest gift on Father's Day, is that my sons have grown to be great fathers to their own kids (and that my daughters have grown to be great moms to theirs)."

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. My father was an abusive alcoholic, and when I was 14, in 1962,

Mom moved the five kids still at home (oldest brother was off in the army) from northern NYS to Tucson, AZ. She was a nurse, and knew she could get work no matter where we went. We were desperately poor those early years, and whenever I earned baby-sitting money, I spent it on groceries.

Anyway, and here's a heads-up to something quite amusing. One year we, Mom my two sisters, and I, were in a store or mall and there were all kinds of Father's Day displays. Mom said, "I think you kids need to get me something for Father's Day, because I've been mother and father both to you." Trust me, she said it very light-heartedly. She knew she'd made the right decision to relocate us, and when I was eventually a mother myself, with two young children, married to a good man, I finally had a better understanding of how hard it must have been for her.

My mom was always a role model for me.

I am sorry my dad wasn't a better dad.

[FakeNoose]

18. These holidays are painful for many families

I totally understand. Losing a parent is the hardest thing a kid can do, because we lack the understanding and perspective that we get later as adults. I guess this is part of being human, because we've all experienced loss at one time or another. Some families are closer than others, and some families keep secrets from the children because they think the kids can't handle the truth.

I'm sorry for your losses and I hope you can find solace in your memories of happier times.

[Skittles]

21. I don't understand hating Father's Day

my dad shot himself in the head, lived for six days, the third day was my birthday - he was 50

but I am happy for all the people celebrating their dads today - yes indeed

[NCLefty]

22. My mother wrecked my family 4 times. I had to rediscover what family could mean for me, with others.

And I did. 😁

As for Mother's/Father's day, just remember they are recent inventions and humanity's parents did fine during all the centuries without them.