To Whom it May Concern …

I would like to wish you a Happy Father’s Day.

I want to thank you for all of the years you awoke before dawn — before the sun even thought about rising in the morning sky … if only for the sake of your family.

For the years that somehow became decades doing a job you didn’t much care for. One that was not only physically tolling — but mentally exhausting.

Yet, you never complained. Never thought about quitting, despite the fact it took you away from the people you loved the most in this world.

I thank you for being the kind of father who put his family first. Your children had a wonderful role model and learned firsthand that nothing in life is given to us for free. Or at least it shouldn’t be.

You taught your sons and your daughters to work hard to provide for their family.

No, you may not have been able to purchase the newest cars or the fanciest house on the block. But you did your best with what you could. You sacrificed those years so your children would have new clothes to wear every fall when they went back to school. I thank you for the overtime you put in so there could be presents placed underneath that Christmas tree every December.

So, to you, I just wanted to say, Happy Father’s Day … in case there is no one around left to say it.

To Whom it May Concern …

I would like to wish you a Happy Father’s Day.

I want to thank you for the years you spent striving to be the best that you could possibly be … even though it took you away from your family.

The countless hours spent locked inside your office, making phone calls, pouring over files or contracts until all hours of the night. The weekend business trips out of town.

Yet, you never complained. Never thought about quitting, despite the fact that it took you away from the people who loved you the most in this world. Yet, you were too busy to see it.

You were too worried about getting ahead and being at the top of your field, all for the sake of that higher paycheck.

Still, I thank you for being outgoing and anything but lazy. Not everyone can provide the absolute best for their children. But you, you gave them the very best of which life has to offer … at least from a monetary aspect. They always had the nicest of homes, the classic cars and the college opportunities many teenagers only dream of.

You taught your sons and your daughters not to let anything ever stand in their way. You instilled in them that if you work long enough, hard enough, a C-level title is eminent — CEO, CFO.

Unfortunately, you forgot the most important letters they needed — ABC. No, it may not be an elite title. But it would have meant more time spent with your children … teaching them the alphabet or to learn to tie their shoes. However, you provided.

So, to you, I just wanted to say, Happy Father’s Day … in case there is no one around left to say it.

To Whom it May Concern …

I would like to wish you a Happy Father’s Day.

I want to applaud you for fighting through your fears. I want to thank you for not turning your back and walking away from the girl to whom you gave a child.

I understand you are young, and there is a whole world out there just waiting for you.

And yet, you stay at your job making minimum-wage, just trying to make enough to purchase diapers at the dollar store.

You are trying, and I want you to know there are so many young men your age who are not.

Please, do not let anyone ever deter you from doing what you are doing.

You don’t have to listen to anyone or anything other than your own heart. For there will be people who will tell you to go back to school or find a better job. Never let them make you feel as if you are not enough. To your son, your daughter, you are everything.

You are helping in more ways than you know. Do not be embarrassed when counting quarters and dimes to pay for your baby’s formula and bottles. I paid for my first crib in all ones I made at my waitressing job.

The day will come when there will be time for you — your wants, your needs. Because your child is only a child for a brief moment. Do not miss it. Do not miss a second of it. You stayed. And that’s a wonderful start.

So, to you, I just wanted to say, Happy Father’s Day … in case there is no one around who will say it.

To Whom it May Concern …

I would like to wish you a Happy Father’s Day.

You may no longer physically be here, in our presence. But please know that you are always here, in our hearts.

Life usually takes the best of men. I suppose heaven needed a few more angels.

I want you to know you are all greatly missed, no matter how much time has passed since last we met.

And just because you are no longer here does not mean that you will ever be forgotten.

I guarantee, you are not. Every child, whether they are 3 or 83, will be thinking about their dad today. It is a day that took close to eight decades to officially become a holiday.

Why?

They thought men wouldn’t appeal to flowers or candy like a mother does on her special day. Some believed it was a bad idea to honor fathers with a day just for them. For fathers are supposed to be strong, show little emotion, they are supposed to be fearless.

But show me one dad who doesn’t fall apart when his first grandchild is born. Show me a dad who isn’t sick with worry when their child doesn’t return home hours after their curfew.

So, to all of you fathers who were taken away from the people who loved you the most in this world, I just wanted to say, on their behalf, Happy Father’s Day. In case there is nobody around left to say it.

To Whom it May Concern …

I would like to wish you a Happy Father’s Day.

The extra time and devotion you put in to each and every day for the sake of your child, is without a doubt something that needs to be acknowledged.

I wish there was a way I could honor you … award you with a medal. For you are to be commended by the example you have set for your boys, your girls.

And you did it all without complaint. Well, maybe a little. But it was a job that needed to be done, and you did it. No questions asked.

When it came to sports, you played like a girl. But that was simply because you are a girl. And you did it for the sake of teaching your son how to catch or throw a ball.

You set aside the Barbies you knew so well and picked up an action figure to entertain your boys.

You took countless jobs for the sake of purchasing nothing for yourself. I see you.

The need to do housework and prepare meals after your first job ends and before the second begins, I have been there myself.

I want to tell you I know firsthand what life is like when a father isn’t around. My children never had theirs. And it still breaks my heart more than 30 years later.

But on Father’s Day, there is something I want you to know.

Yes, there are men who feel as if they would be burdened by having such an enormous responsibility as a child, a family. So, they stay away and contribute nothing. They are literally a stranger to the very ones who carry their genes, who have their eyes.

I make no excuses for them. And yet, I feel sorry for each and every man who walked away from their son, their daughter.

They are the ones missing out.

They will never experience the school plays, the trick-or-treating, the Christmases and birthday parties, what it feels like to love someone beyond imagination.

You have been blessed with all of these moments and someone who deserves to be told how special they are.

So, today, I just wanted to say to you, Happy Father’s Day … in case there is nobody around who will say it.

(Stenger is the community editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times newspapers. She can be contacted by e-mail at jstenger@heraldstaronline.com.)