21 Jun 2004

Hari Bapa

Akhir-akhir ini di Malaysia sibuk menyambut hari Bapa. Seblum hari bapa, ada juga hari ibu ... dan lebih meriah lagi hari Valentine. Entah berapa banyak lagi hari yang hendak kita sambut. Kenapa kita asyik melatah saja? Bagi saya cukuplah Hari Raya sebagai hari untuk mengenangkan semua: ibu, bapa dan anak-anak. Kalau mau ditambahkan dan merasa kurang kesibukan tambahkan lagi, yakni ketika ibu atau bapa menyambut hari ulang tahun kelahiran mereka. Ini sudah cukup daripada melatah dan ikut-ikutan orang lain.

Berikut ini saya petik rencana Sejarah Hari Bapa.

Published on Thursday, June 17, 2004 5:47 PM EDT


Town Times: Father's Day History

Sonora Dodd of Washington state was the first public proponent of a day especially to honor fathers. She was inspired with the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart. Smart, a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

After Sonora became an adult, she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father who made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless and loving man. Sonora's father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father's Day celebration in Spokane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.

President Calvin Coolidge, in 1924, supported the idea of a national Father's Day. Then in 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day.



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