Subject: Smiling Fathers
From: "Fatherhood Foundation" <[email-masked]>
To: "Warwick Marsh" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 10 Apr 2007 12:38:01 +1000

Issue No. 166-31st October,2005

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Welcome to fathersonline.org

Grandfathers

Laughter

Special Feature

Single Dads

Thought for the Week

News & Info

Dad's Prayer

Mission Statement & Help Us!

Welcome to fathersonline.org

Dear Warwick,

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Grandfathers

To an old father,

Nothing is more sweet than a daughter.

Boys are more spirited,

But their ways are not so tender.

Euripides

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Laughter

The boss of a big company needed to call one of his employees about an urgent problem with one of the main computers. He dialed the employees home phone number and was greeted with a child's whispered, 'Hello?'

Feeling put out at the inconvenience of having to talk to a youngster the boss asked,' Is your Daddy home?'

'Yes', whispered the small voice. 'May I talk with him?' the man asked.
To the surprise of the boss, the small voice whispered, 'No.'

Wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked,' Is your Mummy there?'

'Yes', came the answer. 'May I talk with her?' Again
the small voice whispered, 'no'.

Knowing that it was not likely that a young child would be left home
alone, the boss decided he would just leave a message with the person who should be there watching over the child. 'Is there anyone there besides you?' the boss asked the child.

'Yes' whispered the child, 'A policeman'. Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked 'May I speak with the policeman'?

'No, he's busy', whispered the child.' Busy doing
what?, asked the boss. 'Talking to Daddy and Mummy and the Fireman', came the whispered answer.

Growing concerned and even worried as he heard what sounded like a helicopter through the ear piece on the phone the boss asked, 'What is that noise?'

'A hello-copper', answered the whispering voice. 'What is going on
there?', asked the boss, now alarmed.

In an awed whispering voice the child answered, 'The search team just landed the hello-copper'

Alarmed, concerned and more than just a little frustrated the boss
asked, 'Why are they there'?

Still whispering, the young voice replied along with a muffled giggle:

'They're looking for me'

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Special Feature

A SUCCESSFUL MARRIAGE

ROSA AND RAYMOND

A MUST READ

The year was 1932.  She was just nineteen, her soon-to-be husband a few years older.  Neither had a high school diploma.  Both had come from fatherless homes.  Thus, neither had the example of a successful parental marriage to fall back on.  What they did have was each other.

In the years to come, their marriage would be tested.  As African Americans, both had a strong dedication to the civil rights movement.  While firm in their convictions, they understood all too well the risks and the sacrifice that went with such involvement.  In the 1930s, the wife often feared for her husband's safety as he went to meetings of the then fledgling National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.  Nonetheless, she gave him her unflagging moral support.  In time she would join him as a fellow NAACP activist, going on to become one of its earliest women secretaries.

Their marriage endured, as did their activism.  They got through the World War II years and beyond.  The couple watched their beloved movement grow as civil rights activists, steadily rising in number, called on America to remember the battlefield sacrifices made by blacks and whites alike.  Champions of racial equality met with resistance from die-hard segregationists but stood firm.  So did the young couple.

Then, in the mid-1950s, the wife was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus -- an event that helped spark the year-long Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott.  The boycott ultimately ended in victory for civil rights supporters, but in the meantime both members of the couple lost their jobs.  The next decade was one of financial hardship as they struggled to find work that would enable them to keep food on the table -- she as a

seamstress and he as a barber.  Not until 1965, when a Congressman offered her a secretarial position, did the couple's financial situation finally ease.

Throughout all their difficulties, the marriage of this couple remained strong and resilient, lasting nearly 45 years until the husband died in 1977.  Their names?  Rosa and Raymond Parks.

Today we remember and honor this steadfast and courageous couple for their real and lasting contribution to the cause of justice and racial equality in America.  Yet, even as we celebrate their role in helping us achieve lasting social progress, we must not forget that the Parks achieved something else of at least equal if not greater value -- something calling for every bit as much courage, dedication -- and, most of all -- love as anything they accomplished on the civil rights front.  That something was an enduring, successful marriage.

From the start, the combination of odds would seem to be very much against Rosa and Raymond Parks.  Having grown up in fatherless families, they had to struggle through social upheavals, including a world war.  They faced racial injustice, physical danger, financial hardships - the works.  Plenty of marriages have broken up for lesser reasons.  And yet their marriage endured.

Perhaps some of you who read this are facing major marital struggles.  Perhaps you know couples who are.  As we face such struggles,wondering how -- or whether -- we're ever going to get through them, we would do well to remember those before us who lit the trail for us and showed us the way.  In the end, that may well prove to be the greatest

legacy of Rosa and Raymond Parks and other couples like them.

Cindy Coan

[email-masked]

Cindy Coan grants permission to use this as long as you give her credit and include her email address.

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Single Dads

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Thought for the Week

By the time a man realises that maybe
his father was right

he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong.

Charles Wadworth

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News & Info

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Dad's Prayer

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Mission Statement & Help Us!

Mission Statement
The Fatherhood Foundation is a charitable, non profit incorporated association with a goal to inspire men to a greater level of excellence as fathers, by encouraging and educating them, thereby renewing and empowering families.

Click here for more information about us

Help Us!

The Fatherhood Foundation believes that the key to life is giving.  That's why this newsletter is given freely without expectation.  Life is also about relationships.  That's what being a good father is all about, developing relationships with your loved ones.

If you would like to give financially to the Fatherhood Foundation,

please mail your cheque or money order to:

Fatherhood Foundation

PO Box 440

WOLLONGONG  NSW  2520

AUSTRALIA

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