JUNE 16, 2019 – As we duly appreciate good dads today, we’re showing you what’s been a Cardie-favorite friendship design for some 20 years now; we just added the “Happy Father’s Day” thinking the message speaks so well to how all kids and dads ultimately want to feel about each other.

This card always reminds me of my own dad because, when he retired to Florida’s Gulf Coast in the ’80s, he would often call me back in Chicago with the play-by-play as the sun majestically slipped into the sea. Then he’d ask how my day had gone, and we’d hash that over for a while :) Dad died 26 years ago now, and not a day goes by that I don’t give thanks for him.

A few weeks ago, we invited Cardies to share their own best Dad Memories, and we especially loved the story Candy Smith submitted. “My husband and I were supposed to go on a cruise,” she began, “but, as Habitat for Humanity volunteers, we were also working on a house that was not expected to finish before the ship sailed. Being construction manager, my husband couldn’t leave but — knowing how much I was looking forward to going — he suggested I invite my dad to go in his place. (My mom did not like water or cruises, so we knew she wouldn’t mind!)

“My dad and I had the best time on that cruise!” Candy so clearly remembers. “The man who usually fell asleep in his recliner by 8 PM even stayed up for the midnight buffets! But the most enjoyable part of our 11 days together was just sharing ourselves with each other — talking and listening and having quiet times when nothing needed to be said.

“Dad’s no longer here,” Candy told us. “He was 84 when he passed in 2005. But that cruise was so very, very special! I’ll never forget it because, it’s just as one of your beautiful cards says, some memories are ‘inscribed in our hearts.'” Talk about beautiful! Thanks, Candy, for sharing your story.

Over the years, many friends have told me they wish they could have the kind of closeness that Candy and I both feel so blessed to have had with our fathers. And I’ve always encouraged them to Go for it. Literally. I explain that, growing up, my dad and I were not close at all. It was in my late twenties that I found the wisdom and courage to say, “Dad, I would really like to know you, and for you to know me.”

It’s amazing how far a relationship can grow from those simple and challenging words. And it’s probably why I so admire and appreciate open-hearted men like Phil Little, Marv Loopstra, ole David Puett and Doug Helmers. These prolific Cardies could teach us all a thing or two about honoring emotions! To these good men and all those for whom we’re most thankful, Happy Father’s Day.