These days, families seem to be growing more and more convoluted, with multiple marriages and blended families and the pets that become like children to so many of us.

Father’s Day has always felt somehow a little more humorous than Mother’s Day. I hope that doesn’t appear insulting. I just think it reflects how we see the roles parents play.

Maybe what I am trying to say is that an old adage I’ve heard all my life explains, for me anyway, the role of dad compared to mom.

“The best thing a man can do for his children is love their mother.”

I haven’t ever heard the same about moms, and I recognize it harkens back to a time when moms were more often than not the ones who stayed home to care for the house and the family. Dad was out of the house working to pay the bills, and often was one step removed from the day-to-day world.

With so many families needing the income from both parents these days, not to mention the fact that women can and do have every bit as competitive and demanding careers as men, things have changed.

Funny enough, though, I’m not sure, deep down, that how we really feel about the roles has. We’re still kinda stuck in the old view of parents.

Maybe it’s time we consolidate and just have Parents Day, since where we are now is, if there are two parents, they both contribute across the board, and if there is only one parent, they do twice the work.

But since we aren’t there yet, let me raise a glass with you to the fathers of the world.

My own dad departed in 2015, and my granddad, who was my “other” dad, died in 2006. I’ve been without two of the three most important men in my life for quite some time, but I can still hear both of their voices like they were standing beside me.

The afternoon my dad taught me to ride my bike without training wheels is lodged in my mind forever. So is the day I was playing a tennis match in Lexington at the high school, and one of my dad’s coworkers at then Dixie Furniture stopped and told my dad he needed to get to the court to see me play.

Dad had never gotten to one of my matches; the timing with his work as vice president just never worked out. But we were playing a huge rival, and I was in the match of my life, playing a girl who had mopped the court with me the year before and been an absolute snot about it to boot.

I’d spent a summer working with a pro on a new serve and hours practicing in the off season, and I was more than ready. She was not going to win this time. I didn’t realize my dad was there. The match went almost three hours, the lights were on by the time we were done and we were the last match to finish. And she threw her racquet at the end. Because I did not lose this time.

And when I walked off the court, drenched, exhausted but exhilarated, to look up and see my dad’s smiling and oh-so-proud face — it still brings me to tears.

Grandad taught me to drive, both a car and a boat. He taught me to water ski, to fish, and he kept me at the top of my game in tennis off season, playing with me every week and making me a much smarter player. He kept my secrets and believed in me every single moment of my life.

I miss them both, fiercely, but I also know I carry them in my behavior, the way I live, the ethics that guide me, and the way I treat others.

My own husband is the third man of importance in my life, and while he’s not my father, he is father to my four step-daughters and step-dad to my two boys. He and I have been married almost 30 years, so we have been a blended family for a long, long time and I can never thank him enough for the love and the commitment he has given to all of our children.

I know they all adore him, not just because he is dad and they should, but because of the way they treat him. And I know how lucky we all are to have him.

Not to mention our fur babies, who love him unabashedly. He takes more care of them than I do these days since I’m still working and he is home. They all, those who have crossed the bridge now and those still with us, love their human dad devotedly.

But he will tell you Father’s Day is a Hallmark holiday and no big deal. He does what he does because he is who he is. Strong, steady, our rock, the one every one of us turns to when we are in need and don’t know where else to go. And he never says no. He just quietly gets it done. He doesn’t seek recognition or accolades.

But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve recognition, thanks and love this Sunday and every day.

To all the dads, be they fathers to their own kids, step kids, even kids from other parents, or, yes, to the fur babies, thank you. Thanks for the lessons, the games, the support, the guidance, the laughter — the love. None of us would be who we are without you.

Elisabeth Strillacci covers crime, courts, Spencer, East Spencer and Kannapolis for the Salisbury Post.