Exclusive Interview: Home & Family Star Cameron Mathison Shares Father’s Day Gift Ideas

Who better than devoted real-life dad Cameron Mathison, host of the Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family series, and former All My Children star, to promote Father’s Day?

Cameron Mathison — Father’s Day Thoughts

Soap Hub recently chatted with the Emmy-nominee about gift ideas for the father, grandfather, or father figure in your life! Mathison was also forthcoming about his continued progress having battled kidney cancer last year and the importance of Father’s Day.

Soap Hub: First, how are you feeling?
Cameron Mathison: I’m feeling amazing. Thank you for asking. It took me longer than I thought it was going to in terms of getting my strength back. I was naïve. I had had major surgery. [Now,] I’m feeling good. I’m taking even better care of myself. I have more energy. I’m feeling better than I have in a long time.

Can you talk about your decision to go public with your cancer diagnosis? It’s so private, but talking about it likely helped people.
There was no question that I wanted to share my message which was to be your own best health care advocate. I truly believe that listening to my body helped save my life. I had insisted on getting an MRI after asking for one for almost two years.

That MRI found the cancer before it had spread to my lymph nodes and lungs. We think having fatigue and aches and pains is normal. Often, there’s something else going on. We need to listen to your bodies. Somebody really close to me learned about my condition and [her husband got his symptoms checked out] and it helped save his life.

Your Father’s Day Gift Guide is jam-packed with a variety of ideas, one of which is to make a charity in honor of your dad.
Isn’t that a great idea? My dad is big into the Wounded Warriors Project. When I was a kid, I had a degenerative bone disease called Perthes disease [which required me to wear a brace]. There’s an organization called Perthes.org that supports that condition and my kids donate to that for me. Those are super-meaningful to me. It’s also nice to get a spectrum of gifts. I put this gift guide together so people would have choices.

Which gifts have jumped out at you?
We’re big in our house with handwritten [Hallmark] cards and have been for a very long time. I’ll send cards to my parents and add a written note and they’ll call me and read them back to me – [laughs] it’s like they forget I wrote it! There’s just something about a hand-written card. You can go to Hallmark and pick a favorite. My dad keeps the Father’s Day cards I send him for a long time.

This year, I’m sending him a Stars and Pennants 3D Pop-Up card. It’s more than a card, I feel. My dad will keep this card on the fireplace and then, it’ll go to his office. Also, my dad’s a big golfer, but this year I’m going to get him this tumbler that says Best Parent Ever, which he can take with him when he golfs. Oh, and in case [my kids] Lucas and Leila are reading this I also like to bring a tumbler with me when I play golf.

Hint! Hint!
[Laughs] Exactly! The gift guide also has socks and you can see two phrases printed on them – Baby Down and Feet Up. They remind me of when my kids were little and I’d help [my wife] Vanessa get them down at night. There are great for new dads.

What have been your favorite Father’s Day gifts?
My kids know I love fitness and golf and I’ve received many great gifts related to both of those things. For sure, my favorite gifts have been the cards I get from my kids – especially Father’s Day cards. They’ve shared with me their feelings on what it’s meant to them to have me as a dad. There’s nothing more important to me than being a dad.

Check out the Cameron Mathison Father’s Day Gift Guide by clicking here. Home & Family airs weekdays on The Hallmark Channel.