Father's Day Favorites - gifts of love, respect and remembrance.

Father’s Day is a day to remember dad: what his favorite sport is, his favorite song to sing loudly in the car, his favorite tool that helps him fix everything, his favorite drink or meal at the end of a good long day. What is it that makes this man who he is? While the list of his favorites may come to mind first, it is his family that makes him a father. 

After traveling halfway across the country for my grandmother’s funeral, I realized how much a father can truly mean. Of course my grandmother’s life was remembered and celebrated, but it was my grandfather who showed us how. I saw a strong man, who, even in old age, took care of his family. Beside him sat his four sons, all also fathers. Wives, children and grandchildren surrounded them as we gathered as a family. Four generations shared a meal and told stories together. Nine kids under the age of ten, all great-grandchildren, were shown love and affection as their fathers chased them around the yard, held them close and covered them in kisses. 

Throughout it all, I kept looking to my grandpa, a man well into his eighties, as he surveyed the family around him. He has shown us all so much love over the years and has established a personal relationship with each family member, no matter how far away they lived. It was his direction, guidance, leadership and love that got us to where we are. He showed four sons how to be fathers to their own families and later, grandfathers, too. Often I see my grandpa’s influence with my own dad as he makes decisions and forms relationships. One man’s love to his wife and children impacted all of us in a way that cannot begin to be fully explained. 

Love is a powerful, beautiful and unexplainable thing. Sentimental gifts for Father’s Day are sometimes hard to find but so important to help share that love. Give Pocket Hearts so your grandfather, father, stepfather or father-in-law can hold something tangible that speaks of your love. Loving Heart Pins were created as a symbol of love that can be worn on the inside of a jacket over his heart or as a tie pin. It’s an ever-present reminder of your love, even when you can’t be there to hold his hand like you did growing up. 

From our family to yours, Happy Father’s Day!

Loving Heart Contributing Writer - Samantha Gratton lives in Raleigh, North Carolina and loves sharing life stories, traveling and eating a daily dose of chocolate. She is a writer, thinker and dreamer, and her heart belongs to her husband, Scott.