Happy Father's Day Weekend! June 18, 2022

I believe that what we become

depends on what our fathers

teach us at odd moments,

when they aren't trying to teach us.

~Umberto Eco

On this weekend of Father's Day, I am sharing with you a post from 6 years ago. A lot has happened in our family and in our respective lives in the past few years ago. The challenges we have faced and the difficulties we have encountered were many. This post reminds us of the importance of being a part of our family. The fathers in our family are still to be thanked and honored for what they do for us. Thank God for fathers past and present! 

I am mindful of, and grateful for, two men in particular: my own father and the father of our grandchildren. My dad Eugene Shepard died in 2003 but lived a wonderful life and left a great legacy of family love and devotion. Our son Nathan is an outstanding father who makes us very proud on this weekend to honor all the men who hold our family together.

This first picture shows my dad Eugene Shepard and our son Nathan Shepard in 1996 in Anacortes, Washington. They are just two of the many fathers that are a part of our diverse and changing family.

Below is a slide show honoring all the fathers past and present in our Shepard, Gower, Harris and other families. Pictured are young fathers, old fathers, dads from long ago and dads who are very new to the task. At least one is a father of five kids, while others are fathers of just one or two. Some are steady and hard working, others are just thrilled at the very idea of being dads. Some have been at it for many years and now revel in the joy of "grandfatherhood", while others are still learning how to be the best dad they can. Some do a great job of being step dads, while others face unique and daunting parental challenges.  

My brother Gary of Oak Harbor, Washington has been a father since 1968, while my late cousin Hershell Gower of Bullhead City, Arizona, who died during Covid two years ago, had been a father since 1967. That's 49 years! Congratulations to them.

All the fathers pictured here are to be thanked for their hard work and the loving guidance they give their kids. Click on the arrow below to start the Father's Day video.



Happy Father's Day to all of you who have taken on the great task of being a dad!
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Steve Shepard

A Day Full of Memories

"In life, it's not where you go, it's who you travel with." 

– Charles Schulz

June 2 has always been an important date on the calendar for our family. It is a day loaded with special events and full of wonderful memories for every part of our family.

It was on June 2, 1915 -- 107 years ago -- that my paternal grandparents, William Shepard and Bura Davis, were married in Beaver County, Oklahoma. They had only known each other about two years, but in that period of time their love grew and their decision to marry was made. 

I have written numerous times in this blog about the wedding of William Shepard and Bura Davis, especially this blog post on the 100th Anniversary of their wedding. It was a simple event in the home of their local preacher. But it was an event with great significance for their descendants who are remembering them all these years later. Will and Bura are both gone now; Will for almost 50 years and Bura for nearly 40 years. But their love and devotion to their family remains in the hearts of all of us who knew and appreciated them.

Will and Bura chose to get married on the birthday of her father James Brooks Davis, who was born on June 2, 1870 in Spencer, Indiana. It speaks of the love and respect Bura had for her father that she would marry on his 45th birthday.

On June 2, 1979 my brother Gary Shepard and Cindy Ann Dillon were married in a Garden wedding in our home on Humbolt Street in Los Alamitos, California. It was also a simple but very meaningful ceremony with just a few special people in attendance. Today they are remembering that special event after 43 years of married life. Best wishes to them as they celebrate their 43rd anniversary in Oak Harbor, Washington where they live.

Paula Hicks Harris. The memories we have on this second day of June are not all happy ones. It was four years ago today, on June 2, 2018, that Cindy's mom passed away at our home here on Burgundy Street in San Diego. She was just a few weeks short of 95 years old. She was a wonderful woman who has been sorely missed for these last 4 years, and will remain in our hearts forever.

Celebrations are also in order today because it was 20 years ago yesterday, on June 1, 2002, that Jeremy Ortiz and Desiree Ambriz were married here in El Cajon. Jeremy is the son of my cousin Kim Boyd Clark and the grandson of my Aunt Thelma Boyd.

This has been a day filled with various family memories, all of which are important. 
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Steve Shepard