Happy Father's Day History Lesson from Old Herodatus - Who's Happy?

Happy Father's Day Dads!  I hope you are happy . . .well maybe Dads in Boston might be really . . .pleased, after power playing the Mighty Blackhawks in OT last night.  Pleased, not happy.

Who's happy?  Me.

Why?  I have three kids on the edge of all grow'd up ( 18-27), all gainfully employed, almost out of the house . . .almost.   I have a couple of nickels in savings and enough for the bills in checking.  I have a job that I love these past forty years and remain, I do not know how, in good health.

My kids asked the Hallmark question, " Dad. . . .serious;y; What  do you want for Father's Day?"

I rejoined, "What could you give that I do not already possess?"

They shuddered,  " He's off on his Mr. Hickey act."

"Beloved Fruit of my Loins, Silence and sit!  Long before cable TV, Smart phones and Apps, when Hawks tickets were stocking stuffers for the children of working men, I taught scores of children to read and write and so doing learn the common thread of the Humanities, Faith, and Service," I prologue'd. To continue, " One text I used with my students was Herodatus' Histories.

" That black book with the yellow pages you got in your Dad John in the basement?"

" That very text."

" You gonna talk normal?"

" Not a chance of it.  Book One of that ancient manuscript translated by Aubery de Selincourt, tells of the great king Croesus of the island power of Sardis, Croesus ( like CREESUS in his panst) was said to be the richest king alive.  We, or some of us, say one is as rich as Croesus.  A wise man by the name of Solon of Athens, not yet a great world power, visited Croesus and wowed the crowd royal with his stories and insights.  Croesus asked the much travelled gent, who would be the happiest man alive .  Here is the passage from Herodatus -

 So Solon, . . . .came to Croesus at Sardis.
 Having there arrived he was entertained as a guest by Croesus in the king's palace; and afterwards, on the third or fourth day, at the bidding of Croesus his servants led Solon round to see his treasuries; and they showed him all things, how great and magnificent they were: and after he had looked upon them all and examined them as he had occasion, Croesus asked him as follows: "Athenian guest, much report of thee has come to us, both in regard to thy wisdom and thy wanderings, how that in thy search for wisdom thou hast traversed many lands to see them; now therefore a desire has come upon me to ask thee whether thou hast seen any whom thou deemest to be of all men the most happy."
 This he asked supposing that he himself was the happiest of men; but Solon, using no flattery but the truth only, said: "Yes, O king, Tellos the Athenian." And Croesus, marvelling at that which he said, asked him earnestly: "In what respect dost thou judge Tellos to be the most happy?"
 And he said: "Tellos, in the first place, living while his native State was prosperous, had sons fair and good and saw from all of them children begotten and living to grow up; and secondly he had what with us is accounted wealth, and after his life a most glorious end: for when a battle was fought by the Athenians at Eleusis against the neighbouring people, he brought up supports and routed the foe and there died by a most fair death; and the Athenians buried him publicly where he fell, and honoured him greatly."

"My son, what did Herodatus say to you?"

"Nothing, Wasn't that talks between Croesus and Solon?"

" Yes, as recorded and presented by Herodatus.  Now, what does History, from the Father of History, say to you?"

" A bunch of random stuff that happened."

" Indeed."

"How about that? Now, ask me again, what I could possibly ask for  more that I do not already possess?"

The trio of babes smiled , " We got you a gift certificate from B Dubs."

I could not be more pleased.

Happy Fathers Day - St. Joseph, Si Blitzstein and Dad - Bless Us.

“a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame” (Matthew 1:19).

"He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy guardian and protector of his greatest treasures, namely, his divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying: ‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord’” (St. Bernardine of Siena).

Just as the saying goes that behind every great man there is a great woman, the inspiration behind the celebration of a Father's Day is owed at least partly to its slightly earlier counterpart, Mother's Day. Mother's Day was just beginning to gather widespread attention in the United States in 1909, when Sonora Louise Smart Dodd, of Spokane, Washington, heard a sermon on the merits of setting aside a day to honor one's mother. It gave her the idea to petition for a day to honor fathers, and in particular, her own father, William Jackson Smart, who had raised her and her five siblings by himself, after her mother died in childbirth.

With support from the Spokane Ministerial Association and the YMCA, her efforts paid off, and on June 19, 1910, the first Father's Day was celebrated in Spokane. The rose was selected as the official Father's Day flower, and some suggest that people wear a white rose to honor a father who is deceased, and a red one for a father who is living. In 1972, Richard Nixon signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day.

http://fathers-day.123holiday.net/


I have three wonderful children - Nora, Conor and Clare. Their Mother and my Bride, Mary, is in Heaven. She watches the cartoon playing 24/7 which is my care for those three great kids. Homer Simpson looks like Lord Chesterfield next to my ministrations as Hickey Pater Familias.

Jesus! Rag, rag, rag and the occasional Rage. That's this weak Sister, Bubba.

I do what I can, or attempt to make myself believe that all that I do for them comes not from a misstep, a lazy half-measure, or out of my personal vanity.

They deserve a great Father. They have one in God the Father and a reasonable facsimile here on earth.

Fathers are important, I guess. There are commercials telling us about Father's Rights from lawyers in Cowboy Hats; Celebration Sales for Hardware, Steaks, Golf Shirts and Old Country Buffets.

A wonderful boss that I had back when I worked one of my many jobs to meet tuition at Loyola was Simon Bitzstein.

Si Blitzstein hired legions of Catholic Youth to sell Van Huesen Shirts, Levis, quality suits, sport coats, and accessories at Mr. Lee's in the Evergreen Plaza*. One Fathers Day while fitting a guy home from the Navy for a suit, Si was asked what he was doing for Father's Day. He said, "This. This is what Fathers do."

"Hickey, he said, "You know when's Mothers Day?"

I said, "Last month."

Si rejoined, "Nine Months after Fathers Day. You got children? You work."

That was no joke. Do your job.

Fathers, no matter how strong, weak, smart, flawed, best-intended, or exemplary, are committed to a contact made with the women that they love and the subsequent gift from God that this contact requested.

It's work. We Catholics celebrated Fathers Day long before the thoughtful Methodist Miss Strong, and the subsequent Presidents declared a fitting tribute.

Fulfill the contract.

My Dad, was a three Campaign Marine veteran of the Pacific who worked three jobs. When my Mom was sick, the Old Man cooked,cleaned, washed, dried and folded clothes in between those jobs. Never a word about it.

Si Blitzstein fitted a sailor for a new suit.

St. Joseph raised the Son of God.

That's Fathers.

I pray to be half- the men they are - Fathers.




* Click my post title for the impending demolition of this landmark shopping center.