 Thursday Thirteen |
1….Clarence Budington Kelland said: "He didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it." I like this quote because it tells a lot about my father. I am blessed because I had a father who showed his children how to live. Because he truly loved people and wanted the best for others just as he wanted it for his own family, I learned that all God's children are important and unique -- that each person has a purpose and value and a need to be respected and loved. Our family seldom celebrated a holiday without a visitor, usually a person who would have been alone for the day except that my father invited him to spend the day with us. My father went out at all hours of the day or night when someone in need called and asked for help, or when he became aware by some other means that there was a need in a family of our acquaintace. By his life, his children learned how to treat other people. 2....William Penn said: "He who is taught to live upon little owes more to his father's wisdom than he who has a great deal left him does to his father's care." We did live upon little in my childhood (little financial resources that is!). Our home was filled to abundance, however, with love, respect, happiness, sharing, explanations, concern, teaching, and responsibility. Our parents' wisdom gave us a true appreciation for material blessings as well as for academic and spiritual enrichment. Our dad taught us how to take care of ourselves and provide for our own needs and wants instead of just giving us "stuff." 3.... T. S. Eliot said: "Those who trust us educate us." My father educated each of his children by letting us know that he trusted us to make mature and responsible choices and decisions. 4....I have enjoyed this anonymous quote several times in the past. I am so sorry that I now fit into that last category.
5... My father was a role model. Many people don't really understand that term nowadays. A role model shows how to perform a particular role in life. My father modeled the role of: a genuine person; a Christian; a parent; a responsible citizen; a good listener; a grandparent. These are some of the important life roles I learned to play be observing how he played them. 6....When I picture my father, who has been in Heaven now for 20 years, as he was on Earth, I almost always see him holding a child or bending to talk to a child. 7.... One of the sounds I miss most from my childhood and early adulthood is my father's laugh - genuine, ready, unrestrained, and joyful. 8.... I miss the touch of his hand stroking my forehead and smoothing my hair back from my face -- one of his favorite expressions of love and concern. 9.... One of the joys of my life is that my husband of 44 years loved my father as much as I did. My father so totally accepted the role of father to the spouses of his children, that there was virtually no difference in feeling, thought, or action. Not only did my husband love my father, but my father totally loved my husband as his son. There was no "in-lawness" to their relationship. 10.... I love my father's flashy, confident, and hurried handwriting. I well-up in tears when I see old documents containing his handwriting. 11.... My father loved "gadgets". I often think of how much he would have loved computers, blackberries, cellphones, ipods! 12.... My father loved and cherished children, made them feel special and important, and yet he didn't spoil them or make them feel like objects to entertain adults. This is a rare ablility. Each of his children and grandchildren felt a particular bond with him because they knew that he saw and valued the qualities that made each one a unique individual. 13.... After twenty years, I miss my Daddy. I wish I could just have one more good conversation with him, share one more laugh, get one more piece of advice, show him my grandchildren, tell him again how much I love, appreciate, and miss him. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! |
The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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