06/21/2026
Happy Father's Day weekend to all the hard working Dads. We love this guy and are so thankful for him. 🤠
Here is Addy's article on Fathers published in the Laurel Outlook 6/18/2026
Down To Earth
Periodic Ponderings From a Local Farm Girl
To the Fathers:
In my last column I ventured into the subject of generational blessing— ways YOU can
start blessing your family and ways I have been blessed in my family. This week, with Father’s
Day coming up, I am zooming in on our fathers. I write this for my own Dad; my role model,
column editor, counselor and the strongest person I know; Happy Father’s Day!
As I sit here racking my brain for ideas and trying not to delete every word I write, I
realize how very blessed I am. Some people may be going into Father’s Day with grief, because
this is the first without their dad or they still feel pain at the nineteenth without him. Some people
feel disgust or anger for the father they never had; the one who left. And still others, like me, get
to celebrate a friend and teacher who walks alongside us in life.
A father is more than someone who just pays the bills. Yes, he is a provider, but he is
also one’s biggest supporter and will run any race with you. He is a wise counselor and a
mathematical wiz. He brings strength to a home and is a safe place to rest in.
To all the men who are walking the arduous journey of being fathers and grandfathers, it
is the highest of honors and the greatest job around. A father is more than just having kids, it is
an influential relationship that can last a lifetime! So, for the first time dad who feels
overwhelmed with your bundle of joy, to the dad whose last one is graduating, to the grandfather
who is blessing your children’s children and everywhere in between— your role matters!
Edgar A. Guest wrote a fitting poem that I will share:
Only a Dad
Only a dad with a tired face,
Coming home from the daily race,
Bringing little of gold or fame
To show how well he has played the game;
But glad in his heart that his own rejoice
To see him come and to hear his voice.
Only a dad with a brood of four,
One of ten million men or more
Plodding along in the daily strife,
Bearing the whips and the scorns of life,
With never a whimper of pain or hate,
For the sake of those who at home await.
Only a dad, neither rich nor proud,
Merely one of the surging crowd,
Toiling, striving from day to day,
Facing whatever may come his way,
Silent whenever the harsh condemn,
And bearing it all for the love of them.
Only a dad but he gives his all,
To smooth the way for his children small,
Doing with courage stern and grim
The deeds that his father did for him.
This is the line that for him I pen:
Only a dad, but the best of men!
Being a father is the greatest role you can have. You have helped make us who we are.
Thank you for all you have taught and will continue to teach us and ours! Your training,
encouragement and love is keeping us all down to earth.
