Share about your father
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To all dads, a very Happy Father’s Day to you. To everyone, I thought it might be neat to share a few thoughts about our fathers on this day. Please add your reflections to this post. Mine are here
One lesson that I think had the most impact on me was the impact of a giant recession in the auto industry when I was little. My dad had worked for Ford in service for what seems a lifetime. He was fairly high up in the organization, and I remember gathering around the radio when a Ford commercial mentioned his name. Talk about excitement.
But then came the layoff, and it lasted forever. Over half a year, and I have no idea how they made it. But one thing stuck with me. Dad decided not to wait around for Ford to allow him to provide for his family again. He gave Ford the proverbial Kirwin one-finger salute and partnered with another laid-off mechanic and they opened their own garage.
40 hour weeks became 80 hour weeks, but they made a go of it, so much so that he sent 4 kids to college and retired 10 years before he planned to.
I guess that’s where I get some of my individualism from. I’ve always had the attitude that if no one is offering you the career or job you want to have, create it yourself.
That’s what’s fantastic about America, and fantastic about my Dad for teaching me about it.
on 
My dad made me the Democrat that I am today. Growing up, the discussion around the dinner table was always politics and history. My dad’s an attorney and he would challenge us 4 kids to argue the day’s issues. I say “argue” as one time we were at a restaurant and got into a heated debate and were asked by the manager to quiet it down as there were complaints about us.
Both my brothers were always up for the occasion and as it turns out they, like my dad, majored in history and became lawyers. I could never hold my own in any discussion. My dad and my brothers always leaned on the more conservative side of being a liberal. They often disliked the issue de jour that I would bring to the table. For instance, there was the issue of gay marriage, where I was alone in supporting it. But I always did my best and always felt so vindicated when my dad would say, “You know, I see your point, Eileen. You’ve changed my view on this to some degree.” Yes!
I stay much more actively involved in Democratic politics than he does these days and I am so honored that when he comes for a visit or we chat on the phone, that he immediately wants to know what I think about things. He’s getting more and more liberal on issues and less conservative, and I’m so proud of him for that!
My father ran a small typewriter business from our home that was located near a huge state univerity up north. The summer of 1988, when my dad was 74, my two brothers and I somehow ended up back home at the same time with the wives and 6 grandchildren in tow. As we all sat on the porch trying to cool off, a very well dressed middle aged black man went walking by and said “hello” to us all and we said “hello” back. He walked a ways down the street then turned around and came back. He looked at my father and said, “You probably don’t remember me, but back in the 50s when I was going to law school here I rented a typewriter from you, and sometimes when I didn’t have the money to pay the rent you told me not to worry about it and to pay when you could. And back in the 50s there aren’t too many people who would do that and I just wanted to say thank you.”
Being the modest man that he was my dad didn’t say much and the man, having made his point in front of our family, headed back down the street.
This was an example that my father always set without preaching about it: try to put yourself in the other guys’s shoes, and him a break and the benefit of the doubt.
Oh, and his three sons grew up to be two solid conservative republicans and one moderate republican. As a small business he despised the government bureaucracy that imposed mindless rules on him, he was scared to death of inflation, he hated the IRS, and in the one case of being uncharitable towards his fellow man called LBJ a “son of a bitch” for sending 500,000 American soldiers to Vietnam.
My Dad was staunchly Pro-Life. He also had 11 kids (along with 2 miscarriages by my mother).
My father practiced what he preached. I am left wondering about all the Pro-Life anti-birth control extremist politicians that do not also have such large families. I think they are hypocrites. At least when my father spoke Pro-Life I had reason to listen up. He practiced what he preached. I also had reason to be grateful (I was number 10 of 11). But when I listen to Pro-Life extemists with small families I smell a rat.
How many kids did George Dubyah Bush have anyway? Or was his sex life with his wife really that awful? Maybe he always slept on the couch.
Brian,
Thanks for this thread and sharing about your Dad. His spirit of living the American dream and not asking government to provide it is an example for us all.
As it evident by your post and the previous three comments, dads (and moms) play a profound role in their child’s life, and maybe that’s the thing we need to take most away from this. A family needs both parents.
Regarding my dad, it’s pretty simple: his mantra was to do everything in moderation. This doesn’t mean not to work hard or not to have an opinion. But it does mean that everything has a limit and you should be smart knowing about where those limits are.
Yesterday, I called my Dad to wish him a “Happy Father’s Day.” After the call, I kept thinking about why my Dad has made so much of a difference in my life. My Dad has always instilled in both my sister and I, the virtues of hard work, honesty, and imparted the love for family and country. Dad has sacrificed so much for our family, and I am forever indebted to him. He worked hard so that I could be the first person and first female in our family to graduate from college. My Dad means so much to me, and I am thankful to have his love and support in my life.
I grew up with two fathers much to my mother’s chagrin as she did not want to admit to my biological father due to the mistakes she and he made.
I would like to say my fathers taught me great things because they did great things. Actually, I learned to not do what they did. Both of my fathers were nice people, but they were also enablers. I was left to my own devices one because my stepfather’s favorite son was my youngest brother and second because my mother limited my association with my biological father.
So, I grew up trusting only myself to get the things I wanted and not trusting compassionate enablers. To this day I don’t want the government or anyone else to make my life easier, I prefer to do things myself which explains why I am a Conservative and not a Democrat, Liberal or necessarily even a Republican.
I have four children today, and I try my best to spend as much time as I can with them and to not repeat the mistakes of my fathers.
Today I have a great relationship with my biological father who is making up for lost time, but I don’t see my stepfather at all as he has moved on to his new family.