Last month is supposed to be a merry month of celebration for my dad’s birthday yet seventeen years ago, a sudden heart attack claimed his life. It used to be a cheerful time but now it’s already a different story, since my dad now dwells in his peaceful rest. After the incidence, I have learned many valuable things in this life of mine, a kind of flashback that make me gain and ponder newfound comprehension of life itself as well as fatherhood and relationship
One thing I regret is that I never had a chance to say how much I love him. Perhaps it’s also because he’s my role model in terms of love. My dad used to be a man of well build and strength, a man of military background that eventually this condition might make him uneasy to express and shower his affection to the others. The result for me was he never said he loved me, though he showed his love with his action. As a kid I crave for his attention, a normal thing for every kid in the world. The longing would sometimes be met, sometimes it became unfulfilled. This wound, due to the unfulfilled need, later turn into my personal flaw and insecurity, yet the same thing could happen to every person on this planet.

Childhood, Adulthood, Fatherhood
As I grew up, I came to realize that my relationship with my dad has indeed affected me in a deeper way than I could imagine. Be it in the way I express my love, how I treat my mom, how I make friends, how I feel toward the others. Now in my adulthood, those things make me understand how important a father is. I do believe there would be time for me later to get into fatherhood, later of course not now. What man having no desire to build a family? But one thing is for sure, we all need to comprehend and learn fatherhood. Yes, fatherhood is something we must learn, not a naturally acquired thing

These are the facts.

Fatherless children are at a
dramatically greater risk of drug
and alcohol abuse.

75% of all adolescent patients in
chemical abuse centers come from
fatherless homes.

Children in single-parent families
are 2-3 times as likely to have
emotional & behavioral problems.

Fatherless children are twice
as likely to drop out of school.

71% of teenage pregnancies
are to children of single parents.

85% of all youths sitting in prisons
grew up in a fatherless home.

90% of homeless and runaway children
are from fatherless homes.

Boys born to an unmarried teen mother
are 10 times more likely to become
a chronic juvenile offender.

“I have worked with thousands of
homosexuals. I have never seen a
homosexual who had a loving,
respectful relationship with his father.”
Dr. Joseph Nicolosi – Author “A Parents Guide To Preventing Homosexuality”

These are only a few of the available
statistics that point to the absence of
fathers as the root of many of our
sociological problems.
(source : Fathersloveletter.com)

The plight saddened me, but the real situation still continues in our days. As I read this pathetic situation, I wish that one day my family, my relatives would never continue this fatherless situation. I’ve seen the damaging impact on my fatherless friends (as you could see above from criminals, emotionally troubled persons or other things mentioned above)
I wish I could turn back the time, I hope for something much better. But it remains the same.

At last, I wanna thank my father for being my Dad. It’s him who raised me and set a role model for me. But sadly, there’s no Father’s Day in Indonesia. A day of remembrance where we could dedicate the whole day for our dad. Pff I wish the government (please forget the bureaucraziness and the so-called red tapes) would one day stipulate a certain day for Father’s Day.

Luv u dad, Happy Heavenly Father's Day