Sunday, February 14, 2010

Thoughts of My Father

My best friend’s father passed away a few days ago. Not the sperm donor that made his mother pregnant and not the man she later married, but the man who taught him about life, God, country, right from wrong and how to be a man. He was a real man who drove a truck with a stock trailer in tow usually holding his favorite cuttin’ or ropin’ horse. A man that was respected and looked up to by other men as an example of what a person should strive to do with their own life. He wasn’t “the Duke” but he was as close a man I have ever met that could wear John Wayne’s boots. He will truly be missed by friends, family and everyone whose life he touched.

His passing brought back a flood of memories about my own father and how he influenced my life. Everyone has their hero’s and my father was mine. He was the strongest, bravest, kindest, and most caring man I will ever know. He never drank openly and the only curse words I heard him say were “Hell ‘o Jack”, a far cry from the litany of words you hear fathers espouse in the movies these days. He taught me how to be a husband, father, brother, neighbor, and friend. There is not a day that passes that I do not think of him and see how he has touched my life.

When I look at my friend I see his father and hope the same is reflected in me. But my biggest wish is that when someone looks at my son, it is a reflection of me and my father.

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