Father's Day is often overshadowed by its seemingly better half, Mother's Day. One reason for this could be that children are often more intimately attached to their mothers as traditionally, fathers play a less emotionally engaged role in parenthood. Fathers are often the primary, if not sole breadwinner of the family. Ergo, they are able to dedicate relatively less time to nurturing their children personally. Not to mention the stoic expectations that society places on men, resulting in alarming numbers of emotionally or physically absent fathers.

While these patriarchal norms seem to be changing for the better, they are still prevalent enough that a significant amount of our relationships with our fathers are burdened with barriers of communication. Hence, this article compiles messages for fathers that children cannot convey to them directly for one reason or the other. While many of these letters express grievances against their fathers, thankfully, there are even more expressing complete adoration and pride in them as well.

We hope that the writers, the children of these fathers with unreceived letters, have found some comfort in expressing their feelings here. There is a bittersweet catharsis in writing down your woes and sending it out into the world, regardless of whether or not it reaches its addressed recipient. At the very least, it has reached many a sympathetic ear.

The positive letters here, while endearing, are also wistful in their own ways. It is a pity that some of these writers have no way of sending the messages to their dear fathers who have passed. As for the rest, we can only hope that they can one day find the courage to openly appreciate their fathers. After all, what good does it do to love and adore someone in silence?