Being a father is one of the most challenging jobs a man could ever have. Numerous men donate sperm and the biological necessities needed for the reproduction of life. But how many of these men become true fathers?

Father's Day is designed to celebrate and commend the millions of fathers who have taken the necessary steps to support a family and raise their children.

The idea of Father’s Day was conceived by Sonora Dodd of Spokane, Wash., while she listened to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Dodd wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a widowed Civil War veteran who was left to raise his six children on a farm. A day in June was chosen for the first Father’s Day celebration — June 19, 1910, proclaimed by Spokane’s mayor because it was the month of Smart’s birth. The first presidential proclamation honoring fathers was issued in 1966 when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Father’s Day has been celebrated annually since 1972 when President Richard Nixon signed the public law that made it permanent.

With an estimated 64 million fathers across the U.S. -- most of us have something inspirational to celebrate when we think about our dads. Our fathers helped us with school-work; attended our baseball and football games; taught us how to fish; scolded us when we did wrong; supported us when our dreams seemed far-fetched; and even drove us to and from our very first after-school job.

Being a father in 2008 continues to offer challenges for men who struggle with decision-making, and helping their kids be the best they can be. One of the biggest concerns I've heard from fathers is allowing their kids certain freedoms, while protecting them from the things that can harm them. As fathers, we often have difficulty understanding that we are no longer responsible for protecting our kids.

In this new day and age, there are many more men who are parenting on their own. Over 2.5 million single fathers were raising kids in 2006, up from 400,000 in 1970. Currently, among single parents living with their children, 19 percent are men.

While a two-parent household with the father bringing home the bacon is considered "traditional" -- fathers now play roles once considered unacceptable. An estimated 160,000 men are stay-at-home dads. These married fathers with children younger than 15 have remained out of the labor force for at least one year primarily so they can care for the family while their wives work outside the home. These fathers cared for 283,000 children. Among these stay-at-home dads, 60 percent had two or more children, and 40 percent had an annual family income of $50,000 or more.

During a conversation with a long-time friend who was in town on business, I came to a startling realization -- not everyone appreciates the role of fatherhood. My friend described how demeaning and abusive his father was towards his mother, and towards him and his siblings. He further described the hatred he had for his father and how Father's Day was "just another Sunday."

I told my friend that I understood his emotional reaction, and how his feelings towards his father may never be reversed. But before he departed, I also mentioned to him that he is now accountable for reversing the trend.

He and his beautiful wife are expecting a child in the Fall and won't learn its gender until birth. Whether it's a boy or a girl, I told my friend that he should do everything in his power to avoid the same mistakes he saw in his own father. The only way good fathers become the norm, is to lead by example -- not by repeating history.

My friend agreed.

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