Father’s Day 2025
What will today (Father's Day) be like for you? Maybe a BBQ? Picking out a funny card? Or wandering the aisles of Home Depot with your dad? If you're a father yourself, maybe you're hoping for a moment of appreciation or just a quiet day.
One powerful way to honor our fathers—whether or not they’re still in our lives—is to pause and reflect on who they were and how they shaped us.
What are the first three words that come to mind when you think of your dad? Do these words describe a relationship that is warm, loving, complicated, painful, or ...? Our first honest, stream-of-conscious words often say a lot about our lived experience.
Honest reflection can bring to light difficult feelings that we’ve carried for years—whether feelings like sadness, anger, or longing. These emotions may be rooted in:
Childhood pain or unmet needs
A father who wasn’t emotionally or physically present
A lack of affirmation or encouragement
A strained or distant relationship
The loss of a father, whether recent or long ago
If Father’s Day feels tender or complicated, it may feel easier to push these feelings aside. But when we acknowledge them and understand the deep influence our fathers have—whether through their loving presence, their absence or their negative influence-- we can grow. We can grow in deeper appreciation and/or deeper healing so that we can foster or transform their imprint on the ways we love, work, parent, and see ourselves.
Whether you're processing grief, wondering how to move forward in your own parenting journey, and/or trying to understand the complexity of your relationship with your father, cconsider ways you might process and honor your experience:
Name the emotions that are present for you—this is often the first step toward healing.
Write in a journal about the 3 words that come to mind when you think about your dad or write a letter to him.
Seek support, whether through friends, family, or a therapist. You don’t have to carry this alone.
Reflect on the gifts your father gave you—even if it is solely the gift of life.
Create your own ritual to honor or remember your dad or a father figure in a way that feels true to you.
Give thanks for the various men who’ve shaped you: mentors, uncles, grandfathers, teachers, coaches, pastors or friends.
Today, may you find compassion for yourself and others, and may you honor those around you doing the hard work of fathering.
If you would like more support in your relationships, visit our team page to contact a therapist or email us at connect@soulrestorationproject.org.
