If you're lucky enough to have a dad in your life, please make a big deal out of him on Sunday. Make sure you hug him, grill him a hamburger, and tell him how lucky you feel to have him in your life.
Appreciate dad while he's still around
Those of us who lost our dads too soon sure would like the chance for one more Father's Day with our own dads.
By Geri Parlin, La Crosse Tribune

Those of us who lost our dads too soon sure would like the chance for one more Father's Day with our own dads.
I lost my dad in 1996 and it was definitely too soon. His death was unexpected so I had no chance to say goodbye or to learn everything I wanted to learn from him.
Dad was my gardening guru, but I got in the gardening game late, not picking up a hoe until I was in my 30s. It delighted him that I was suddenly a gardener and he visited me more often because I not only listened to his advice, I acted on it.
That always amazed him. He told me once that he gave a lot of advice but most people didn't follow it.
It was just before his death that I started covering home and garden stories for the Tribune. Dad was mighty tickled and a whole lot surprised that his daughter was going to be writing about gardening.
So Dad, I am standing in the backyard staring at the lilacs that came from your yard, thinking about how spectacular they looked this year. And I'm staring at my spindly clematis wishing I could call you up on a Sunday afternoon to ask you why it only ever gets one bloom every year. I'm growing the exact same one you always grew, but yours had hundreds of blooms.
You'll be glad to know, Dad, that I'm still visiting your garden, helping Mom as much as I can to keep the flower beds looking wonderful. You'll be glad to know, too, that the roses are spectacular this year and Mom did that all on her own. And she says she's got a mighty fine crop of potatoes coming, too.
So no hugs, or chats or hamburgers for us, Dad. But when I look at the lilacs, I know you're looking, too.
about the writer
Geri Parlin, La Crosse Tribune
I knew my father was a poet, but not that he had been a trailblazing Black columnist in the military during World War II.