To our Dad:

My father passed away today, it was peaceful and calm. My mother and sisters were with him. I thought I would repost this to remind myself of how much he has influenced my life. He is my hero. 

"My brothers, sisters, and I wrote this living tribute for our Father a couple of years ago. I thought I would post it for Father's Day. 

"When we are asked where we learned to do multiply fractions we could point to our school days and maybe even a teacher who taught us. But when someone asks where we learned how to be a parent, or a citizen, or a person, we would all point to you and the life you live daily as our Hero.

You show us that family matters, always, and that we will be safe with you, always. When others were casting off their families and responsibilities, you put an ad in the local paper stating that you WOULD be responsible for your family. When others have cast us away, you have always had a safe place for us to stay, to hide, to get our feet back under us, to start again. When we see the handprints in the cement, we know that this place, wherever it is, is a safe place to land. It is a place where unconditional love can be found. It is a place where you will stand between us and the world, defending us, protecting us, keeping us safe and secure.

You spent countless hours coaching, driving, cheering, and supporting us in our sporting endeavors. You taught us to hang our hands when we shoot (but never hang our heads); to block out for a rebound; to use a fore arm shiver on a lineman; to establish position, plant our feet, and stand our ground; to play hard, finish strong, to not give up; and most importantly that playing with character and integrity matters so much more that winning or losing.

You always seem to be coming up with something better, it is as though the whole world is your workshop. We have seen you build timers and trailers, taking what someone else threw out as scrap and turning it into something useful and to us, something wonderful. Your sparks of imagination flow through each of us and out into our children, students, and co-workers. Through your “tinkering” in the shop you have helped put lasers in airplanes, helped fix problems that seemed unfixable, helped ships sail, and helped an uncountable number of children learn and succeed.

You taught us that people matter, that people are valuable, and that there is always time to make a difference in someone’s life. Although you may have never uttered those words, we see it acted out daily. We have seen you take in strays from all over, people who seem to have lost their way or just need a hand. You somehow see the hidden potential in people that others have written off. You work to help others see that same potential. Whether it is helping a single mother trying to get back on her feet or a couple of kids who seem to have everything stacked against them, you manage to bring out what others have overlooked. And in doing so you not only help them but show us what it means to be human, to care about others when they can offer nothing in return; to give to people, expecting nothing in return. You have shown us what it really means to sacrifice everything in order to help even just one person who needs it. Which really is what a hero does isn’t it?"

If asked "How did you learn to..."

 ...treat your wife with respect? 

...teach your kids to be honest and upstanding citizens? 

...teach your kids to stand among their peers with self-confidence and self-respect? 

...participate appropriately in your church and community? 

...manage relationships with people that you have authority over? 

...manage relationships with people that you do not have authority over? 

...understand the right role to play in your children's lives when others are in authority? 

...take the right amount of responsibility for both positive and negative actions? 

We would say, “I learned it from watching my Dad.”