No matter how loath some people might be to admit it, fathers are far more important than any of us realize. For starters, they are one half of the vital equation that helped bring you into this life. Further, they are also the men who, like your mothers, had fed, changed, clothed, disciplined, entertained, listened, loved … and repeated that cycle over and over.

Really, dads don’t get enough honor in this world. The fact that there’s only one Father’s Day each year proves it. Why isn’t a week or month set aside to pay more tribute? On second thought, perhaps it is because dads can wear only so much cologne or ties.

Nonetheless, those men in our lives should get much more from us than gifts. They deserve our own respect and love, which can be proven daily in a myriad of ways. Treating others kindly and demonstrating good manners and sense immediately come to mind as notable examples.

All of us fortunate enough to have had fathers active in our lives eventually learn that they were a lot smarter than we ever willing to give them credit. Perhaps if we had listened more to what they were saying to us, a lot of mistakes could have been averted. But no. We had to do it our way whatever the situation. And when we fell, they were there to pick us up physically — or morally — brush us off and  refrain from saying ‘I told you so.’ Then they told us how much they love us, and pushed us forward to walk upright again, preferably a little wiser and a lot more grateful.