Father's Day

Third Sunday in June

"Can you think of anything as magnificent
as being a father?"

~ from Love at Home ~ Starring Father (1976)
by George D. Durrant

The Father of Girls

When you’re the father of boys,
How you worry,
But when you’re the father of girls,
You do more than that,
You Pray!
From the time of diaper and pin,
‘Till the time they cry, "don’t come in!"
‘Till the time you gown them in white,
And give them away,
You worry, you worry,
You worry, night and day!
When she’s a plain little girl,
How you worry,
But when she’s a beautiful thing,
You do more than that,
You pray!
Boys come ‘round when they want a date,
Girls may only stay home and wait,
When she’s out you sit up all night,
With her first baby toy!
You trust her, but worry,
‘Cause you were once a boy!
When you’re the father of boys,
How you worry,
But when you’re the father of girls,
You do more than that,
You pray!

Words and Music by Ervin M. Drake, 1967
Sunday, June 20, 1982

"My father didn't tell me how to live.
He lived and let me watch him do it."

~ Clarence Buddington Kelland

 		400 Elm Street
Hillsboro, MO 63050
Brent - age 10; Lewis - age 11; Nathaniel - age 2;
Paul - almost 39; Joshua - age 5; Randolph - age 8

"A girl's father is the first man in her life,
and probably the most influential."

~ David Jeremiah
"A father's calling is eternal, and its importance transcends time."

– Ezra Taft Benson		 Sunday, June 17, 1990
501 Hillsboro Street
Taylor Springs, IL 62089
marvelicious.com/fathersday.html
http://our.homewithgod.com/bunny
/ohmypapa.html		 Brent - age 18; Paul - almost 47; Adrienne - almost 3; Randolph - age 16; Nathaniel - age 10;
Joshua - age 13; Dale - age 6; Lewis - age 19

The bottom photograph was taken on the morning of our
most memorable Father's Day. It was actually the last one
with all seven of our children at home; Lewis was married
four-and-a-half months later.

Our family was asked to give all the talks in church that morning.
As a surprise gift to Paul, I arranged to have the children sing
the interlude hymn, "Love Is Spoken Here" (words to the right).
It is a lovely song, sung first through in unison, then splitting
into two-part counterpoint. They started off beautifully, with Lewis'
rich baritone voice leading Brent and Randolph on one part,
the three youngest boys on the other part, and Adrienne looking adorable, snuggling in Lewis' arms.

As the song progressed, Lewis began to choke up.
One by one, remarkably in descending age order, each boy
followed suit (along with most of the congregation).
If there was a dry eye left in the chapel, it surely fell victim
as well, when at the song's end, sweet little Adrienne,
as if on cue, leaned over and kissed Lewis gently on the cheek.
It was a beautiful, spiritual moment - the best present we
could have given their father.

Love Is Spoken Here

I see my mother kneeling with our family each day.
I hear the words she whispers as she bows her head to pray.
Her plea to the father quiets all my fears,
And I am thankful love is spoken here.

Mine is a home where every hour
Is blessed by the strength of priesthood power,
With father and mother leading the way,
Teaching me how to trust and obey;
And the things they teach are crystal clear,
For love is spoken here.

I can often feel the Savior near
When love is spoken here.

Words and Music by Janice Kapp Perry, 1980
(b. 1938)
Oh, My Papa

Oh, my papa, to me he was so wonderful,
Oh, my papa, to me he was so good.
No one could be so gentle and so lovable;
Oh, my papa, he always understood.

Gone are the days when he could take me on his knee,
And with a smile he'd change my tears to laughter.

Oh, my papa, so funny, so adorable,
Always the clown, so funny in his way.
Oh, my papa, to me he was so wonderful
Deep in my heart I miss him so today.

Music by Paul Burkhard for a 1939 musical called Der Schwarze Hecht
Reproduced in 1950 as Feuerwerk (Fireworks)
Lyrics by Erik Charell, Jürg Amstein, and Robert Gilbert

 One of the hardest things I've ever been asked to do was
to sing "Oh, My Papa" at the funeral of a close friend several days before Father's Day of 1981.  To make matters worse,
I was several weeks pregnant, and in my case that meant
that my emotions were extremely fragile.

(If you're doing the math and wondering which child this might
have been, this was the little girl I later miscarried
on August 30 - my 34th birthday.)

The main reason this was such a difficult thing for me to do,
is not only was I looking into the faces of his wife and children
as I sang, but this is a song I used to sing along with Eddie Fisher to my own daddy - curled up on his knee.

- 06/20/04

"Oh, My Papa" lyrics and midi courtesy of http://www.redsal.com/papa.htm - 06/20/04

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