As I’ve faced failing air conditioning and battery problems with my car, I’ve been calling my father for advice a bit more than usual this week. 

While my father taught me how to install flooring, ceiling fans and every type of sink faucet imaginable, I’m no mechanic. But because of all the tools he taught me to use during the 18 years I lived under his roof, I feel more than equipped to take on any problem before me.

Naturally I’m writing about this because Father’s Day is on Sunday, and just because we don’t always spoil our fathers like we do our mothers, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t show them how much we appreciate what they do.

Often, we sit back and put away the to-do list and just let our dads relax, turn on some old football highlights and let them enjoy a day free of responsibility.

Fathers are usually the ones who teach children how to ride a bike, drive a manual transmission car without burning up the clutch and protect them from harm. As the only daughter, I look up to my father like a superhero who could fix anything and answer any outlandish question I could pose.

He spent the better part of my first 10 years of life breaking up thick, monstrous blocks of ice on the Hudson River and the Bay of Alaska. Each time he left on a trip, I’d count down the days until his return, listening to the books on tape he’d recorded for us.

That’s the dedication to our family that fueled us through all of those days at sea and continued to fuel us through cross-country moves and crazy family vacations.

For my family, Father’s Day is always about taking the day to just enjoy one another’s company, take a break from yard work in the hot sun and fill our stomachs with pizza and double chocolate cake. Despite the distance, some things can still be shared and treasured together, even if it’s via a Sunday morning phone call. 

I wish a Happy Father’s Day to all of our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers out there.