Cord Byrd: “recently I spoke just before Mother's Day with reference to what that day meant to me and generally, I think, to most…”

“recently I spoke just before Mother's Day with reference to what that day meant to me and generally, I think, to most Americans. It is a day that originated in West Virginia. This coming Sunday, June 15, is Father's Day. While I am proud to note the many valuable contributions made by fathers in the raising of our precious future generations, these words are harder for me to speak, since that collective noun ``fathers'' also includes myself. Like, I suspect, most fathers whose jobs necessarily consume much of their time and attention, I carry with me both the realization, of which I regret, that I did not spend as much time with my daughters over the years as I would have wished, and the gratitude that my very capable wife was at home to shoulder so much of the effort in the rearing of our children. And she did a fine, fine job. Over the course of my life, the American family has changed a great deal. More and more fathers are assuming an ever greater role in the raising of their children, from the changing of diapers to attending parent-teacher conferences. ``Soccer moms'' now share the sidelines-- and the car pooling--with ``soccer dads.'' Fathers, as well as working mothers, have learned the day care drop-off and pick-up routine.”