Father's Day Without Your Father

I drove from Kansas City to Oklahoma to bury my father in a Veteran's Cemetery two years ago this summer, not long after Father's Day. I have not really thought much about that day in the following two years.  Which now feels kind of strange. Shouldn't I be think about it like a normal grieving adult child? It occurs to me now as I anticipate my wife and kids to celebrate my tenure as a father, that days like these are also memorial days for so many people.  Although I have talked with many people who have also lost one or both of their parents, it never really occurred to me as it is this week, the profound impact of what it means to 'celebrate' Father's Day without your father. The commercialization of Father's Day really doesn't allow much room for remembrance unless your family has well established rituals to honor the fathers in your family that have died.  Sure we can buy books, ties, fancy car washing gadgets for the dads in our lives right now, but what do we have as a society to help us reflect?  In the lead up to Father's Day 2013, a  few articles have highlighted fatherhood and end of life issues that I wanted to point you to. Charles Ornstein published an essay in the Washington Post on how the widowhood effect (known academically as the bereavement effect) might have impacted the death of his father so soon after the death of his mother. Suzana Makowski covered Mr. Ornstein's story for Pallimed back in April - 'End of Life in the News:...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Carer Workers Authors: Source Type: blogs