WASHINGTON — Growing up without a father left a hole in his heart, President Barack Obama told young men Friday at the White House in a remarkably personal Father’s Day weekend message. He implored fathers everywhere — and the children when they’re older — to be involved in the lives of their own children.
"This isn’t an obligation,” said the father of two in a message to millions of wayward dads. "This is a privilege to be a father.”
Obama spent hours Friday with teenagers, young men, community mentors and everyday dads in hopes of launching what he called a national conversation on responsible fatherhood. Each story was personal. But one of them commanded the most attention: his own.
He spoke about how his father left home early. The future president was just 2 at the time and saw his dad only once more, at age 10.
"I had a heroic mom and wonderful grandparents ... but despite all their extraordinary love and attention, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel my father’s absence,” Obama said. "That’s something that leaves a hole in a child’s heart that a government can’t fill.”
The president said he promised himself he would not repeat his father’s mistakes.
"Just because your own father wasn’t there for you, that’s not an excuse for you to be absent also. It’s all the more reason for you to be present,” he said.
An estimated 24 million American children are growing up with absent fathers. Those children are at higher risk of falling into lives of poverty and crime.
by the associated press
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