By Franklin W. Liu
   
Father‚Äôs Day may be known today for bad gifts from children to their dads, but its origins are more serious and inspiring than an awful tie. 

It started in 1901 at a farm in Spokane, Washington during a time when single-parenting was usually due to the death of a parent. William Smart was widowed when his wife died from complications of childbirth. Full of grief, Smart took on the formidable challenge of raising a newborn and five children alone.

Sonora Smart witnessed her father’s daily hardships in keeping the family together. Her father’s selfless dedication and love touched her deeply.

One day while attending a sermon praising the virtue of mothers amidst a community proposal to set aside a day to honor them, Sonora blurted out that fathers deserve such a special day as well. Spokane ministers, newspapers and stores quickly embraced the idea, and the city jumped to celebrate a local father‚Äôs day in 1910.   

It took time for this idea to travel across the country, but in 1924 President Calvin Coolidge gave his support to a national Father’s Day celebration. In 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a presidential proclamation establishing Father’s Day to be on the third Sunday of June.

Another six years would pass before President Richard M. Nixon signed a law making Father’s Day a permanent celebration in America. Meanwhile, the country’s military draft was being fazed out and replaced by an all volunteer army, thus giving otherwise drafted fathers the option to stay home and be with their families.

The truth is that the mundane, day-to-day activities are what build a precious, sustaining bond between a father and a child. A hug, a ball tossed in the yard, a Band-Aid applied to a scraped knee, a pat on the head for a job well done, a favorite story read at bedtime and then that gentle kiss on the forehead before lights out — they all lodge as tender, irreplaceable memories.

For this steady love and tireless devotion, a happy Father’s Day greeting, either in person or via telephone, is the most soothing music to any father’s ears.