Father's Day is an empty day for a lot of people. We have a nation being raised by single mothers who are stepping up to the plate and filling both roles.
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Happy Father's Day to Mom
"Dear old Daddy, rest his soul
Left my mom a heavy load
She tried so very hard to fill his shoes
Working hours without rest
Wanted me to have the best"

--Merle Haggard


A couple of years ago, Louisville Democratic political activist Mary John Celletti posted on her Facebook page that she got a Father's Day present from her son Patrick.

He said she had been the mother and father in his life.

Mary John and I have been friends since before Patrick was born so I know her story. I also can see the results. Patrick is a third year medical student at the University of Louisville. Mary John did well in her dual role.

Her post made me painfully aware that Father's Day is an empty day for a lot of people.

Mother's Day has been hard for me in recent years as it reminds that my mother and sister are dead. Father's Day has been simpler. I met my first wife the year that my dad died so I made the transition from Father's Day being Dad's day to my day.

Now I share the day with my son-in-law, Clay Bigler, who likes to do things outdoors. My idea of roughing it is staying in a hotel that does not have room service or a mint on the pillow. Finding a joint activity can be challenging, but we make it work.

Making it work is what single mothers do.

We have a nation being raised by single mothers. My mother, grandmothers, daughter, wife and sister all spent time in the ranks.

One of my relatives met his father the year he turned 18. His response was to beat the hell of out of "Dad" and tell him to stay away.

I was raised by a single mother, but my father remained intensely involved in my life. Most people can't say that. I adopted two wonderful daughters, but it was an easy role to fill. The biological guy cut ties long ago. A lot of men completely jump ship or stay involved in a minimal, half ass way.

Some can dwell on the negative and bemoan the situation. It is what it is and nothing is going to change it. Ditching your children no longer has a stigma and society is not going to shame men into doing what they are supposed to do.

Or we can focus on the positive. We have a ton of single mothers stepping up to the plate and filling both roles. As Patrick astutely noted, they should be honored on Father's Day as well.

I've never bought Father's Day gifts for the single mothers in my life, but this might be the year to start.

Mom went to nursing school during the day and worked at a potato chip factory at night in order to support us. She paid for me to go to an excellent, private Catholic school. I suspect she did it by juggling bill collectors and credit cards, but she made it work.

Getting to Covington Latin and later to Covington Catholic was a game changer for me. It gave me an environment to hone my talents and the vast majority of my classmates graduated from college. Several, like myself, have advanced degrees. Mom made that possible for me.

I'm honoring my late father on his 80th birthday by putting out an updated version of Son of Son of a Gambler: Winners, Losers and What to Do When You Win the Lottery. Dad was a larger than life man and you can read, for the first time, about some of his celebrity friends like Pete Rose.

I didn't include Pete in the first book because he had not admitted that he bet on baseball. Since Pete came clean, I figure that no one would mind my sharing some childhood memories.

I am also including a chapter about my late mother. Mom did not have any celebrity friends, but was a larger than life figure in her own way.

I never thought to honor her on Father's Day, but should have. She handled the dual role well.

I'm giving some of the proceeds from the book to charity. I know I will give some to Ursuline Academy in New Orleans, where my wife Karen becomes President in July.

Ursuline is the oldest Catholic school in the United States and the oldest all-girls school in the United States. Attending Ursuline is an incredible opportunity and I want to help someone, like my mother helped me.

I also know that Karen has the strength, focus and willpower to ensure her students get a terrific education. We just celebrated our first year of marriage, but she had years as a single mother before that.

Happy Father's Day to her and the millions of other women who serve in dual roles.

And thank you to Mary John and Patrick for putting them on my radar.

Son of a Son of a Gambler, book cover

Tony S

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