The club that I am referring to is the DP Club. No, it doesn't refer to displaced people. I am talking about the dead parent club. The reason that this has come to my attention is that Mother's Day has recently occurred, and Father's Day will be taking place in less than a month now. I know several (actually, way too many, in my opinion) that belong to the DP Club. Most people that I know in this club have lost only one parent, but there are a few that unfortunately have lost both parents. Included in this club are my Mom (my Grandfather on my Mom's side has been gone since I was 5 or 6), my Aunt and Uncle on my Mom's side, and all of my Dad's brothers and sisters who are still living (my Grandfather on my Dad's side passed away in 2004), some of my cousins on my Dad's side, my husband (his Mom died from lymphoma in 2001), my brother and sister-in-law on my husband's side, etc. The list goes on and on. Of course my sister and I are also members of the DP Club, having lost our Dad to liver cancer in December of 2007.
My sister and I and our families went out to lunch with our Mom for Mother's Day just this past year. On the way home I asked my husband how he was feeling, if he was doing OK. He told me that he was sad and that you just can't help but feel that way when everyone and their mother (sorry, bad pun here) is posting about Mother's Day on Facebook and that everyone is out celebrating their mothers.
I find that I feel the same way regarding the impending approach of Father's Day. I am sure that people will go all gung-ho crazy posting on Facebook just as they did for Mother's Day. I am sure that people will be taking their Dads out to lunch or dinner or doing other fun things with their Dads to celebrate. When I think of the approach of Father's Day it makes me sad that I cannot participate in that particular occasion to celebrate my Dad, since he is gone.
I guess that my point here is that you should keep in mind that while you may be fortunate enough to not be a member of the DP Club, some of your relatives/friends/neighbors may be members of the club and may not want to be reminded 235 times on Facebook that it is Mother's or Father's Day. You may talk to people who are members of the DP Club about your plans for the day, but don't brag or exaggerate what you plan to do on that particular day. Also, you may want to keep in mind that some of us who are members of the DP Club don't want to hear your constant complaining about what horrible thing your mother or father did to you and/or what a horrible person your mother or father may be. At least you still have them here on this Earth. Some of us would give anything to have our mother or father (or both) back here. All I'm saying is be respectful, have some empathy and some sympathy. You may not know someone's whole story, and that person may be a member of the DP Club.
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