I didn't know my father that well, but the memories I have of him are good ones.
One of those memories is of him baptizing me just about six months before he died. Another is of him letting my sister and me choose the tie he would wear to work.
Admittedly, most other information about my father comes from relatives and loved ones who knew him well.
The example he has set for me, even through death, has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. And I view my efforts to live up to his example and honor his memory as an obligation.
Instead of rehashing the "best" gifts we can buy for Dad at a variety of stores, it would be more useful to explore those examples dads set for us.
First, it should be remembered that just because you happen to be a "Dad" doesn't mean you're a "Father." As Mormon Times reader Jussi Kemppainen submitted, "Father is a title earned and given by the child — not the father."
Earning that title and respect comes in different ways, as illustrated by reader Catherine Newman, who shared the following: "My dad smoked and I was always a little nervous that he would smoke when he was driving (my friends and me) places, but he never did. Looking back on it now, I should have known that he would never have embarrassed me by smoking. … Instead of all the ties, books and music I gave him for Father's Day, I wish I had told him 'thank you' for his time and consideration of my feelings. I think he would have loved that the most."
Reader Deanna Beutler tells about a powerful experience she had at church. Having lost her father 17 years previously, Beutler writes, "One Father's Day, I left sacrament meeting because I was too overcome with emotion. I found an empty room and prayed for help handling the sadness that I felt. I felt a great comfort fill me and started thinking of all the acts of service he had done for people all his life."
In a May 1991 Ensign article, President Ezra Taft Benson said it is the father's responsibility to make sure his family lives up to its potential.
"Fatherhood is not a matter of station or wealth," President Benson said. "It is a matter of desire, diligence and determination to see one's family exalted in the celestial kingdom. If that prize is lost, nothing else really matters."
Part of that responsibility is fulfilling the aforementioned example that a father is obliged to set, which brings me back to my own father.
On this and every Father's Day, my greatest gift to my father would be to live up to that example he set for me and the incredible nature of his character, of which I have learned about through family and friends.