Until two years ago, I had no idea when Father’s Day took place. I’d never had an opportunity to celebrate it.

My dad, Joe Niccum, died when I was 2 1/2 years old. My mother reminded me each year when his birthday came around. But Father’s Day went unheeded – as neglected in our single-parent household as Bastille Day.

That all changed in June of 2004. My daughter Lola Mae had been born the previous August, which made me a first-time parent at the ancient age of 37.

So when my wife said, “What do you want to do for Father’s Day?,” I assumed she was talking about plans that involved getting together with her dad.

It took awhile to sink in that I had inherited a holiday that involved me. It was as if I had converted to Judaism and all of a sudden got to relish in all that Hanukkah bounty.

Journal-World entertainment editor Jon Niccum hangs out with his 2-year-old daughter, Lola, on the beach in San Diego, where the Niccums vacationed in March.

It’s no great shocker to relate that becoming a father was a surreal experience. I had spent more than three decades neither having a father nor being one, so the concept was quite foreign. (I vividly remember the nurse handing over my newborn daughter and thinking, “Now what do I do?”)

But I was an individual who had been around awhile and was pretty secure with my own personality. As dramatic an event as fatherhood was, deep down I wasn’t convinced it was going to change me.

Funny how that pre-Lola guy now seems like a completely different person to me.

Before Sweet Pea (one of her nicknames) came along, the sound of a child crying or coughing were the noises I despised most. Now they are music to my ears.

Before Mrs. Peepers (another of her nicknames) showed up, I would have thought participating in a make-believe tea party would have been torture. Now I look forward to it more than watching football.

Before Little Miss Attitude (no more nicknames, I promise) was born, I had the patience of a 3-year-old. These days, Lola has the patience of a 3-year-old, while I can put up with things that previously would have frustrated, irritated or enraged me.

One look into Lola’s vibrant brown eyes and all the challenges of fatherhood seem to dissipate. I’ve learned that the love you have for your child is precious, but it’s the innate love they have for you that is so overwhelming. In many respects you are their whole world. And you’ll do anything to live up to that beautiful responsibility.

I’ve also learned exactly when Father’s Day falls.

For me, every day is now Father’s Day.