Latter-day Saint Life

After Their Dad Abandoned Them, How One LDS Family Celebrated Father's Day

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"It's not always easy to put your kids before yourself, but when you do it right (meaning with love), you experience a joy and an unparalleled happiness in meeting their needs and their wants that you wouldn't trade for anything," LDS dad Vance Taylor said.

Growing up, Father's Day was a "mixed bag" for Vance Taylor.

When Taylor and a sibling were diagnosed with a debilitating disease at a young age, his father abandoned the family. In the years that followed, the annual June holiday represented a major gap in his life.

On the other hand, Father's Day allowed Taylor to celebrate his mother and a number of strong male role models in his life whose examples inspired him.

"Father's Day gave me a unique opportunity to think about what kind of a father I wanted to be when I had kids of my own," Taylor said. "In other words, I wanted to grow up to be the kind of dad I wished I'd had when I was a kid. In that sense, Father's Day helped me develop a more formalized appreciation of fatherhood."

Today, Taylor is a husband and father of two daughters. Growing up without a father has helped prepare him to more fully appreciate his opportunity as a father. In commemorating Father's Day, Taylor and his mother, Morena Merlos, discussed their experiences and shared insights related to the role of fatherhood.

Lead image from Deseret News
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