To the man who taught me enough electronics to build my own doorbell, how to use a level to hang my pictures properly, how to hook-up computers, TVs and other appliances on my own, and other tricks of the trade that a father would typically teach a son, not a daughter, yet still comes to my rescue when a household project has gone terribly wrong. To the man who taught me how to drive, but made me get AAA for fear I would stubbornly change my tire on the highway. To the man who told me to get into the best school I could and that he'd find a way to send me there, even at a difficult time for our family financially. To the man who would listen to a problem, give me food for thought, but never quite tell me what to do-- yet I always felt he'd stop me if I was going over the cliff! Thank you always!
More on Tim Russert. I've been catching up on news online and watching some of the videos from the coverage the past two days. One has really struck me: a voice-over that Russert did a few years ago for Father's Day, talking about the birth of his son, Luke, how it changed his life, and how he hopes his son will live by his grandfather's ideals: "to live a good and decent and honorable life."
On this Father's Day, I think of my own grandfather, Ralph, who died my senior year in college. He was the second-most important man in my life growing up, and had he lived, I would have asked him to join my father in walking me down the aisle. One of my great disappointments is that Tom never got a chance to meet him. He was a simple man, self-made, of many principles. I always think of a plaque he had in his house which quoted Abraham Lincoln:
“I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.”
Happy father's day.....live well and be proud of all that you have taught the rest of us!
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