Today is father's day. There is always talk of great fathers and I won't lie... I aim to be known as a great one. Not to the world... but to my children. I won't write a long article on this. I have time to spend with my own father and children. But I want to say something important about this day.
It reminds me of why there are so many lessons I teach my children, my sons. My oldest son in particular at this point in time. Some times he behaves in a way that seems uninterested when I impart my wisdom of life's lessons. In the past year I've mentioned maybe three times... "I won't always be here. I could be gone tomorrow and all you'll have is what I've taught you this far. Don't make the mistake of ignoring me now." At first that bounced off of him. But by the third time in a year I said it... He had an answer. "Dad, your not going anywhere... you're not going to die." And for this I answered sharply, "Can you imagine you and your brothers world right now without me in it?" From here we had an adult conversation I won't get deep into but it marked an understanding. The conversation drove home the point that I had purpose in his life, it was more than cooking, doing laundry, driving him to school and playing with him after work.
We all take our fathers for granted while they are alive. We shouldn't. They have a great many life lessons to teach us. They've seen the world at a different time. They have stories to tell us. They are wealth of knowledge and can help us avoid pitfalls in life if we just tune in to what ... more »
