Father’s Day 2026: In Loving Memory of Henry Akao and Henry Hiroshi Akao

I John 4:7-11 NKJV
[7] Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. [8] He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. [9] In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. [10] In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. [11] Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

This Father’s day, ten years after my dad passed away after his long battle with Alzheimer’s, I found an essay that I had written for school after I had interviewed my grandpa, who had survived the Japanese interment camps.

Reading the essay brought tears to my eyes, not because of the internment, but because of the love and grit my dad and grandpa had.

They lived through a difficult time in history.

The did not complain.

They worked hard.

They supported their families.

My dad and grandpa might not be physically alive to give gifts to on Father’s Day, but they gifted me with strength and an unshakable belief in hard work, family, and education.

Amen.