Marla Anson Photography

Everything I ever could ever define as good
Was there in this man

A scant five minutes in his presence
Was all it took to convince anyone of this

He had an honest and open relationship
With the world
With everyone
With everything

I never knew him to tell a lie
Not once

His simple philosophy
Could be summed up
With one phrase

Do the right thing

What the right thing was
Needed no mention

It was understood
That you knew

It was your responsibility

To know

If ever there was
An example needed
To define the opposite
Of pretense

That would have to be
My dad

Unassuming, charismatic, outgoing
He was the guy who

Picked up hitch hikers
Stopped to fix flat tires
Did business on a handshake
Volunteered his time
Trusted his neighbors

One of my earliest memories
Is of my dad
Rushing in to pull someone
From their shattered vehicle
Lying upside-down and on fire
In the middle of East Seaman Avenue

A crowd of people
Looked on
Frozen with fear
Dad walked right up
And pulled the man from his car

The crowd failed to act
Because they were afraid the car would explode
My dad went in
For the very same reason

Mom had a fit of course
But I don’t think Dad could have done any different

And so it went
He was always that way
Which caused Mom much grief sometimes
But as kids growing up
It gave us a very broad perspective

The sort of perspective needed
To realize that the world is more
More than a man
More than a people
More than a nation

That we can be the heroes
We can be the leaders
We can be the champions
If we simply

Do the right thing

Now he is gone
And I am realizing
Perhaps for the first time
That he is as much a part of my message
As I am

As we all are

Thanks Dad

Posted by Citizen of Earth at 4:35 PM