Fathers are the unsung heroes. I am happy to say I had the one of the best fathers in the world. He would go to work in Providence early in the morning and work overtime so my mom could stay home and take care of four daughters. On the weekend he would make Polish kielbasa and smoke them in our yard over a barrel. We would gather near the barrel and put potatoes on the bottom of the barrel and we called them spuds. The next day he would put the kielbasa in a basket and sell them to Polish people in the neighborhood. In the summer he would pick blueberries and sell them to bakeries and he would buy us shoes with the money.

His whole life he only thought of his family. His family gave him some money and he built a store called Johnnie's Market. My mother would run the store and he continued to work in Providence. In our store he built a smoke house and he would smoke his delicious kielbasa. People came from all over the state to buy his home made kielbasa. At Easter and Christmas people waited in line to get the kielbasa. He was not a social person, he worked in the back of the store making Polish foods.

People today still remember Johnnie's Market and their delicious Polish foods. They both worked until they were 80. When my mother died, my father never went back to the store. They were married over 60 years and had their 50th anniversary in Newport. My parents loved Newport and we would take them to Newport every Sunday. My father's life was his family. He was there for me when my young husband died in a accident. They bought me a car and gave me an apartment to live in. They were wonderful.

So honor your dad on Father's Day. If they are in heaven go to the cemetery and talk about how wonderful he was. If he is still alive honor him with presents and love. My father loved if you gave him money and he would save it and buy what he needed for his car. We always bought him clothes and he was he best dressed when we went to Holy Cross Church every Sunday with his family.

God Bless all our wonderful Dads and they will always be the unsung heroes.

Joanne Mailloux Murphy

Fall River