A Father's Gift

                                                                  A Father's Gift

My father is a good man--kind and gentle, filled with compassion; a man with an easy manner, a quick intelligence, and a quiet confidence.  A man slow to anger, and quick to forgive.  Throughout my storm-filled  childhood, my sainted father was the rock I clung to in the wake of Mama's rages.  He was my comforter, my salvation, my  friend.       

My father in his younger years was a true jack-of-all trades; even now, I marvel at the scope of his abilities.  He could roof a house or repair a radiator with equal ease; he could paint walls or plow a field, cut the lawn or lay a tile floor.  He could fix an engine, bake a cake, build a barn, and throw a horseshoe.  He could repair TVs and radios.  There was nothing my father could not do; he was always my hero.

My father was a good provider and a generous man.  He worked two jobs for most of my childhood, so that we could have all that we needed and most of what we wanted.  Many times I saw him take the last two dollars from his wallet and hand it to a stranger in need.  He was a very giving man; he gave freely and from the heart.

 One of the best gifts I ever received came from my father, and it was the following advice:

"Never let anybody tell you that you can't do something because you're a girl.  You can learn to do anything you want,  if you want it bad enough.  You might not be the best at it--nobody can be the best at everything--but if you try hard enough and long enough, you can learn to do anything well. Everything you learn is yours forever--nobody can take that away from you; so learn all that you can!"        

My father is a wise man, and  I took his words to heart. I learned to draw and to sew, to do algebra and to diagram sentences.  I learned to saw and hammer and paint.  I learned to cook and to can, to farm and to fish, to ride a horse and to paddle a kayak. I learned to make baskets and to build barns, to cut lawns and to fix holes in radiators. Some of my knowledge came from books, some was acquired from strangers; the most important things things were taught to me by my wonderful father.  I learned to love unconditionally.  I learned to laugh often, at life and at myself.  I learned to forgive the unforgivable.

 The ever-growing  tapestry of my life is woven with varied and vibrant colors; each thread is something I have read, or learned to do, or experienced  along the way.   My life has been so much richer, so much fuller than it might have been, had I not been given that advice.  And it came from the  greatest gift of all--my father.

Happy Father's Day.