This Father's Day, Give the Gift of Connection
In some cases, conversations between fathers and children can be difficult, but there are ways to make them easier.
Jun 08, 2025
Written by our Founder and Chairman, the Celebrations Pulse letters aim to engage with our community. By welcoming your ideas and sharing your stories, we want to help you strengthen your relationships with the most important people in your life.
My dad wasn’t one for long talks. Growing up in our house, you didn’t get heart-to-hearts or big speeches. He found other ways to show how much he cared, like warming up the car on freezing mornings or quietly tucking a few dollars into your coat pocket when you weren’t looking.
Dad came from a generation when fathers were expected to provide and protect but not necessarily do much talking. As a painting contractor, he spent his days working with his hands and came home with flecks of color on his clothes and a kind of silent pride that didn’t need explaining.
Though dads today tend to be more involved and emotionally present than previous generations, I sense there are some lingering remnants from the past. When we talk about our families around the office, it’s clear that many folks still find it easier to open up to their moms. There’s often a hesitance, even among grown children, to have deeper conversations with Dad.
With Father’s Day coming up, maybe we can change that. We can use the occasion to go beyond the usual greetings and share something deeper, opening a longer conversation that extends far beyond next Sunday.
Why so many Amazing Dads are amazing quiet
There’s a reason many dads struggle to express their feelings. Growing up, many men like my dad were taught that keeping emotions under wraps was a sign of strength. Expressing how they felt was often dismissed as a weakness.
But the silence runs deeper than just upbringing. Studies suggest men are biologically inclined to process stress differently. While women often seek social connection during hard times, men are more likely to withdraw, a trait rooted in evolutionary roles. And while that tendency might have come in handy on the hunt or in battle, it can backfire in modern life.
The impact is real. Research from Harvard and the American Psychological Association has shown that men are more likely to experience social isolation as they age; one in five men reports having no close friends.
When emotional needs go unspoken, relationships can begin to fray. And loneliness isn’t just an emotional issue, it’s a health risk. According to researchers at Brigham Young University, chronic loneliness can be as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
That’s why it’s worth making the effort.
Father’s Day can be the nudge we need to start a long overdue conversation. All it takes is a simple question to break the silence, and what comes next might just bring you closer than you’ve ever been.
It’s never too late — until it is
Dads can change. Mine did.
One of the moments I’ll never forget came near the end of his life. He saw me kiss my brother goodbye and turned to me and asked, “Why did you stop kissing me?”
I froze for a second. “I didn’t think you’d want me to,” I told him. “I thought that was just something kids did.”
I felt awful, realizing I had made an assumption about what he wanted. But I’m grateful he spoke up and used his power of connection. That one question changed the trajectory of our relationship.
It reminded me how often we hold back, not because we don’t care, but because we’re unsure how our words or gestures will be received. That’s the challenge so many of us face: learning to say what we feel before the window closes.
Last year on my podcast, I spoke with Topaz Adizes, founder of The Skin Deep, a project dedicated to helping people have deep, transformative conversations. Over the past decade, he’s facilitated thousands of them, including his own honest exchange with his father.
His advice is simple and urgent: Don’t wait. Say what needs to be said. Ask the questions you’ve been meaning to ask. Start the conversation now before it becomes a memory of what could have been. Be like my Dad: Use your power.
A Father’s Day challenge
This Father’s Day, I invite you to take a moment — whether it’s with your dad, stepdad, grandfather, uncle, mentor, coach, or any father figure in your life — and begin a conversation. It doesn’t have to be profound or perfectly worded. Just make it honest.
And to all the Amazing Dads out there: Try to be ready to receive it. Your response does not need to be perfect. Sometimes your kids want to open up, but they just don’t know how to start. So meet them halfway. Start the conversation for them. Make it easier for them to connect.
Let’s help each other bridge the silence on Father’s Day and every day after. Here’s to making your connections with Dad amazing.
All the best,
Jim
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AUTHOR
Jim McCann is the founder and chairman of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc. as well as a business leader, author, and philanthropist with a passion for helping people deliver smiles. Devoted to helping others, he also founded Smile Farms, a 501(c)3 organization that provides meaningful jobs in agricultural settings to young adults and adults with developmental disabilities.
