I have written about the importance of fatherhood — serving as a loving and caring parent and role model for your children — many times in this column.

I continue to do it for a very good reason. Many children have gone astray at early ages because they lack a father figure in their lives, despite the noble efforts of mothers and others to rear them as best they can.

Terry Harrison of Farrell is a person whom I hold in high regard. Among his other community activities, one of the most important is his work with area youth as part of the Neighborhood-Based Family Intervention Center and the Mercer County Father’s Network, a 12-week workshop for fathers and other male role models.

I bumped into Terry and his wife recently at the United Way of Mercer County’s Wing King Cook-Off in Downtown Sharon, and we had a chance to talk briefly about Father’s Day and his continued involvement at the center.

Unlike many of today’s children, I was fortunate to have not one but two father figures in my life — my father and my grandfather. Although they died when I was in my early 20s, the relatively short time that I was afforded to spend with them in my youth — individually as well as together — was paramount in my development.

Growing up, my dad was my best friend. My grandfather was a close second. Both gave me lots of love, guidance, confidence, and maybe most importantly, discipline in trying to teach what was right and wrong, good and bad. They knew when to get tough, but they knew when to coddle as well.

I spent most of my youth either living in the house right behind my grandfather, or in his house when my family moved there to take care of him when his health started to fail. On most days as a child, I spent the better part of each with both of them.

My father worked the day shift at Jennings Manufacturing Co. in Masury, and I would take that opportunity to spend time with my grandfather, usually in his garden or hanging out in his back yard. When my dad got home from work, he was around throughout the evening as well as my grandfather, who was retired from Sharon Steel.

We had an old rowboat that we stored behind my grandfather’s house. On most Saturdays throughout the summer, we would strap it to the top of the car and head to Pymatuning Lake at 4 a.m. and fish the shorelines for crappies.

Dad was always in the back of the boat, my grandfather in the middle, and I in the front. When the day grew hot and the fish quit biting, we packed up for home. It wouldn’t have been a trip to the lake without stopping at the former Shine’s Grill in Jamestown to quench our thirsts with ice cold beer and soft drinks. Those weekend mornings with my dad and grandfather alone on a boat for hours on a quiet lake were some of the most meaningful and important times in my youth.

We celebrated Father’s Day on Sunday. It’s a sentimental day because I think about my dad, who died in 1975, and my grandfather, who died two years earlier when I was away at Penn State.

I thought about Terry’s dedication to promoting the importance of fathers, and counted my blessings for having two men in my life — two fathers, really — who showed me the way.

It’s a day when I reflect on my role throughout the years as a father. My 28-year-old daughter Jamie is more than that — she’s one of my best friends, too. We work together, and along with my wife, we vacation together, go to dinner together, have fun together, and of course, fight together. Hardly a day goes by when we don’t have a petty disagreement, but that’s a part of fatherhood as well.

As she stays very actively involved in the community in supporting a variety of causes, I proudly see a lot of me in her. I never had to tell her that such community participation was important, but she learned it along the way — much as I learned from my father and grandfather.

My wife and daughter bought me a few little gifts on Father’s Day. I preferred nothing, because I look at it as a day not for getting, but as a reminder to keep giving the love, guidance and support as a father (and friend) that is sadly lacking in many of our families today.

But I was glad to get them because they’re symbolic of the importance of fathers and the major influence that they play in their children’s lives. That lasting bond that I shared with my father and grandfather is one that I have forged throughout the years with my daughter.

That’s what Father’s Day means to me. Here’s hoping that the grass roots work by Terry and others continues to push the importance of being a good father from the shadows into the spotlight.



Jim Raykie is the editor of The Herald and his column appears on Mondays. His e-mail is jraykie@sharonherald.com