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In my quest to find out what people think about the meaning of Fathers Day, I asked one individual to share his thoughts on the subject. I hope you'll enjoy. -S.N.

I grew up in Dar es salaam, Tanzania, where both of my parents were working class citizens with great ambitions and limitless desires for their children. In a family of three, I have an older brother and a younger sister. While our mother has always been the favorite of our family, it's my father who has always been answering calls, clearing paths and supporting every one of us, including our mother, even when he's had some major reservations of his own about what some of us try to do with our own lives.

While many of us may cherish and sometimes take for granted the parental care where both mom and dad are present, there are still a significant number of children for whom the only parent they have known in their lives is the father.

Unlike many nations in the African continent, East Africa's Tanzania has been built with solid foundations that can be traced back to pre-colonial Africa where families and tribes lived together and supported each other against any odds. Some of these families have had the presence of two parents who are equally interested in the upbringing of their child or children and some families have only had the presence of one—an awesome father.

I'm talking about a father that prays for his child or children before he can pray for himself. Not the one who says to God, "Forgive them Father (when talking about his children) for they know not what they do," but the one who says, "Thank you Lord for all that they do."

My father always found comfort in his fatherhood and spoke to his children openly and lovingly.

He understood that a child is a gift from God—and that not all men are gifted to have a child. He took pride in not just making a baby, but rather raising one. I am talking about the man who not only clothed and sheltered, but also fed my stomach and my brain. He's a father who understood that, in today's world, keeping ignorant of one's own children is just the same as leaving them to suffer in the world alone. I'm talking about an awesome man who did these things for me. I'm talking about my father, my dad.  -  M. Khalfan, Austin, TX