The necessity of Father’s Day

Until recently, I viewed Father’s Day as a kind of afterthought. The pack of gum in the express line of holidays. Nice to have, sure, but not necessary.

By Andrew Pridgen

Fathers throughout time have been trying to figure out—spent lifetimes trying to figure out—whether they are necessary.

The rub of being a father is this answer only comes when it’s nearly too late. Realizing then, whether you were necessary or not, was not up to you.

Appreciation for a father is a strange and unattainable thing. There are fathers right now, waking up this Sunday morning, this “day for them” who are multi- multi-millionaires. Steerers of the digital barges that make our screens light up our faces. Robber barons of finance. Artists that are the hit of the Tribeca brick- and bare-beam cocktail circuit. Authors whose prose is so familiar sounding, it couldn’t have possibly been created just now…