Yesterday was Father’s Day.  As we lay on a picnic blanket on Limantour Beach, celebrating the fathers of our friend group, my younger daughter turned to me and said, “Happy Father’s Day!  You have been both our mother and our father throughout these years.  Thank you for filling in for our father, who was absent from our lives most of the the time.”

That really got me thinking.  As Single Parents, or Lone Parents, we attempt, and many times succeed in filling the shoes of both parents.  We really try hard to be both the Mother and the Father to our child(ren). Is it possible to do both roles perfectly? No.  But we try.

I remember, when my husband left us, I vowed that I will give my children the same life as they would’ve had if they had both of their parents in the home.  Was I successful? It wasn’t perfect, and I couldn’t always substitute the role of their father, but I did manage to raise two wonderful girls who wish me Happy Father’s Day!

Today, let’s acknowledge the parents, mothers, fathers, caregivers, who have raised or are raising their child(ren) alone. So many of them in the world are loving and caring for their offspring without another parent – whether because they’re widowed, divorced, or for other reasons. They work relentlessly to pave the way for a better future for their children, and today is a great day to think of them. We all have someone in our lives or our past who deserves our loving thoughts today!