Do men really have good support for emotional issues, on a regular basis? When a man reaches a certain age and he’s depressed, he’s struggling with his place in the world, he’s going through family problems or a divorce, or financial and job worries, etc., where can he turn? Add into the mix that he’s a single dad and has no immediate family around and you have my situation, a few years ago.

When my marriage first broke up, I was blessed to find a circle of men that supported and guided me through the horrible ups and downs that followed. No, it wasn’t some beer-drinking group of women-haters, nor a drumming in Indian war paint Robert Bly-type of thing. It was regular men, with regular problems, getting together and talking about the real stuff.

Starting in the middle of a story can lend perspective. At least this is my hope, as emotion is coursing through me as thoughts go to page. As this is being written, I am monitoring flightaware.com, watching an online depiction of the Southwest Airlines 737 (tail # N705SW) that is taking my precious 9-year-old son from Reno to Las Vegas. Flight information indicates that he is now 160 miles from me and about 30 minutes from touching down at McCarran International. His ultimate destination today is San Antonio, TX, where his mom lives, off for his annual month-long visit. Preston lives with me, his old dad, the majority of the time, and I am fortunate beyond words that this is the reality of the situation.

With 1 day to go to Father's Day, I feel it's about time to take a look at the bigger picture and forget our own importance around Father's Day for a moment. I've just come across the Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation which supports single-parent families with terminally-ill children. The Foundation partners with children's hospitals and other providers to offer a 24-hour relief for single parents.

This Fathers Day, the Foundation is running a campaign for SINGLE FATHERS called "Dedication 2 Dads." Everyone can make donations in honor of their fathers and help single dads who are struggling financially as they care for their sick (sometimes dying) children.

For more information and to make a donation please visit the Andre Sobel River of Life website and click on the Dedications 2 Dads icon.

Bruce's story titled "Memories are made of this" at T-6 in our countdown to Father's Day

I am quite happy to write this column from the vantage point of some distance from the pain of my own father’s death and the time I was alone, separated, and then divorced, and raising my boys 24/7. But, it only seems appropriate to reflect on those times, the positive memories of my dad, and the contrasting struggle of teaching my boys, much younger then, to remember their own father.

My father was a unique man: stoic, hard working, resistant to complaints, and whining, and completely in love with my mother. David Sallan died where he was happiest, right next to my mom, holding her hand, at 90 years of age. They met when he was 17 and she was 14, by a lake in Michigan; he was the sun-tanned water-worshipper, she was the shy, pale, redhead with a brain. He was brawn; she was class. And, he worshipped her from the day he laid eyes on her.

I have been writing a dad’s column for several years, recently expanding to many papers and sites across the country. My parenting background seems to have included many of the most common challenges. As an older parent to begin with (having my first son 5 days after turning 40), I made the choice to quit my so-called glamorous showbiz career and stay at home with my two boys (a second son was born 3 years later).

My wife was a workaholic and eventually, not surprisingly, our marriage ended. The surprise was that she abandoned the state and boys, leaving me to raise them alone. I found, for all the goodwill out there supposedly for dads, that I was isolated at PFA meetings and other mom get-togethers. Other dads, for the most part, worked and had little time to discuss changing diapers and toilet training a 4-year-old.

A father can not spend enough time with his children; especially when the family has been pulled apart by a separation or divorce. Children will need a tremendous amount of support from both parents in order to adjust to this new arrangement. This means that fathers need to work with mothers to set up a visitation schedule that will ease the trauma of the separation.

A father should seek the maximum amount of visitation that is allowed and then ask for more! This request should come immediately after the separation to ensure that the children don’t miss any “father” time. Once this visitation schedule has been set, it is important for fathers to utilize every single visitation that has been agreed upon.

Often it seems mum’s seem to dominate the kitchen space in most homes and dad rules the garage. This of course is a broad generalisation and of course if you are a single dad you soon have to pick the slack in the kitchen otherwise you will be surviving on takeaway food or TV dinners.

What ever your situation is though, kids love to mess around with food in the kitchen and this is a great way to spend some quality and useful time with them. Whatever the age there are recipes to suit. We don’t really want to get the toddlers too close to a raging deep fryer used for cooking doughnuts or fish n chips, but for a teenager, its crucial they get used to the more , lets say risky forms of cooking. Toddlers can have fun with other types of food preparation though. Making Pizza is one recipe that spans all ages.

I’m a single dad of two kids 5 and 6, and pizza night generally co-insides with the end of the week and more often than not a movie rental.

Being a father is a lifetime calling; it doesn’t end at separation or divorce and it doesn’t go away because our lives become difficult. Being a father is a full time job, a job that holds countless rewards for those of us with the courage and dignity to honor the position of “father”.

Children need both a mother and a father that they can count on. Your children will need and benefit from your involvement. This means getting to know their teachers, doctors, dentists, coaches, etc. Becoming an active participant in your children’s lives deepens the bond between you and your children and they will come to know that they can count on you. When you take on the position of the true meaning of “father”, the children will have a smoother transition during the separation and will be more mentally and emotionally adjusted.

Are men to blame for the divorce problem in this country?

It’s been said that one of the reasons for the high rate of divorce in this country is the manner in which men choose their wives. Specifically, they choose their wives in a fashion similar to how they choose their next car.

They get the best-looking one available, and hope there’s not much maintenance down the road.

While this may occasionally be true, there are also practices that married couples need to follow to avoid adding to a divorce rate hovering around 50%.

These practices are important for the success of your marriage, and they’re also essential for the well-being of your children.

In Maggie Gallagher’s book, “The Abolition of Marriage,” she states that, “Half of all children will witness the breakup of a parent’s marriage. Of these, close to half will also see the breakup of a parent’s second marriage.”

I came across this article which is a reality for a lot of fathers who don't have access to their children. Access is an issue for many fathers including celebrity dads like Sir Bob Geldof. It's particularly relevant at this time of year when absence is felt a lot more. The article is a good reminder of the important of the relationship between father and child, but also father and mother.

- Scott

Families across Britain are spending quality time over the holidays, except for the many fathers who aren’t, because the courts or their former partners won’t allow them access to their children.

In the vast majority of cases here, mothers receive residence, regardless of how involved the father was the children’s lives before the parents separated.