Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers.

The fathers who eagerly spend every available moment with their kids. The fathers who teach their kids to play soccer, to throw a ball, to ride a bike, to bait a hook, to change a tire, to drive a nail, to read a tape measure or to drive a car. The fathers who always have something else to do.

The fathers who have abandoned their kids. The fathers who have been abandoned by their kids.

The fathers who teach their kids right from wrong. The fathers who are both mother and father to their kids. The military fathers who were deployed and missed it when their kids were born, or learned to walk, or when they started school or when they graduated. The fathers who read to their kids every night. The fathers who can’t read.

The fathers who have raised their kids and are now raising their grandchildren. The men who would give anything to be fathers, but can’t. The fathers whose babies have been aborted. The fathers who teach Sunday school. The fathers who have never been inside a church. The fathers whose kids have turned out great. The fathers who visit their kids in prison. The fathers who have buried a child.

The fathers whose kids have disappointed. The fathers who reassure the little ones when the boogey man comes out at night. The fathers whose kids have been taken away. The fathers who sit broken hearted by the bedsides of their terminally ill kids.

The fathers whose hearts break when they have to give a spanking. The fathers who are addicted to drugs, alcohol or gambling. The fathers who are in prison. The fathers who are overwhelmed by it all. The out-of-work fathers. The lazy fathers who never worked. The fathers who are work-aholics.

Good, bad or indifferent, every father makes an impression.
If your father left a good impression on you, you are truly blessed.

— Jennifer Hudson

Hudson grew up in eastern Rowan County.