My most cherished childhood memories feature my dad driving me down some back road with the windows down in whatever beat-up old car he was fixing up that month.

We would find the flimsiest of excuses to get out of the house and into the car. Maybe we suddenly needed beef jerky from that fancy place a couple of towns over, or maybe he needed me to help him scope out a rusty piece of junk in Detroit he was planning to take home as his next vehicle, or we would decide to pick up some books from the discount store 45 minutes away.

No matter the reason, the result was always the same: The two of us sitting side by side, jamming out to Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Rolling Stones and practicing increasingly complex handshakes as we rolled down a seemingly endless line of pavement.

Those days are long past us. I now live hours away from my father on the other end of the state and can no longer slide into my dad’s passenger seat for a quick joy ride. But I’m often reminded of those times I spent bonding with my dad — especially as this coming Sunday is Father’s Day.

Though Father’s Day was not officially recognized in the United States until the early 1900s, a day to celebrate fatherhood and paternal bonds has been celebrated across the world, as far back as the Middle Ages. Father’s Day is a day filled with history — the history of the day itself and the personal history each one of us shares with our own fathers.

This Sunday, let’s all celebrate that history by spending time with our fathers or giving them a call, or if your father has passed, cherishing the happy memories you had with him.

For those that did not have a positive relationship with their fathers, I hope you can celebrate Father’s Day with some positive male role model in your life.

Personally, I will not be able to get myself across the state this Sunday to spend Father’s Day with my dad, but he’s already got a card in the mail and lots of love coming his way.

I will be forever grateful for my dad. He has believed in me and encouraged me even when he didn’t agree with my choices. He’s always listened to me even when I am on a 30-minute rant about nothing, and he always answers the phone when I call.

He and my mom have sacrificed so much to ensure that my sister and I had a good life, and I plan to never take that for granted. For those of you that also had great dads, I hope that you never take their sacrifices for granted, either.

That was quite a few words to convey a pretty simple message: Thank you, Dad. Thank you for giving me so many happy memories and being the best road trip buddy a girl could ask for.

SARAH CULTON, is the managing editor at Leader Publications. She can be reached by phone at (269) 687-7712 or by email at sarah.culton@leaderpub.com