Post-Father's Day Tribute

I've been awfully lucky when it comes to fathers. The two who have been in my life--my father and the father to my child--are both incredible men whom I admire, adore, and love.

My father is a man of the highest integrity--a man with a quiet sense of humor who almost never loses his temper. He's a deeply religious man and an optimist who shares with the Apostle Paul the secret of being content in any and every situation. He's a man who practices humility and servitude, two qualities that lift him up in a way that pride never can. While he fulfills many roles in his community, his family was and is at the top of his list. He's a devoted husband who has spent a lifetime loving one woman. He was always available to his two children and provided a loving example. And now, he delights in his grandson, playing with him with the same abandon and glee that he did his children.

My husband, while different in temperment and humor style from my father, is an equally devoted father. If you ask him what he does for a living, the first thing he'll say is that he's a stay-at-home father--the teaching and the acting will be mentioned afterward. I've learned about being a mother by watching him with our son. The easy bond between the two of them never fails to amaze me. They're buddies, but my husband never forgets that his role is that of father before friend.

So I count myself fortunate when it comes to fathers.

I also count myself fortunate to have lived around such voracious readers who always have a book at hand. So in tribute to both men, I give you as Father's Day reading some of the books that they have enjoyed and appreciated throughout the years.

My father:

The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren
In His Steps by Charles Sheldon
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

My son's father:
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein
I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

posted by Book Help Web Editorial Team at 10:19 AM |