Both Mom and Dad taught me life lessons and I realized only recently that one from my dad was to love learning. It’s probably what lead me to believe I could start a new career (my own business at that!) as I approached an age when many have long ago figured out what they wanted to be when they grew up!
Aren’t our paths determined by now?
Aren’t we setting our sights on the prize of retirement and winding down and not on starting and gearing up?
Lessons from my dad offer a resounding “No!”
From the time I was young, I always loved learning. As the oldest of three girls, I was the automatic teacher every time we set up “school” in our kitchen and my sisters were the dutiful students. We used a small blackboard and scrap paper and that’s what we called fun (or at least I did!)
Some of my earliest memories are of my dad bringing us to the library on a Saturday morning and allowing us to wander in the children’s section, pulling books, skimming, and reading and creating a stack almost too big to carry to the checkout desk. Walking and whispering between trips to the water fountain, I’d notice the book covers that looked brand new and the worn ones of those that must be good. I remember the excitement as my reading level (and book options) progressed through the colors of the rainbow. You could pinch me when I was old enough to look through the card catalog and find what I needed for school projects. I wonder if you know, Dad, how much fun you provided with our free 3-block drive excursion to the Deer Park Library. I’ll call you today and tell you!
I also remember my dad sitting on the edge of my sister’s bed in our shared room drawing the solar system on the inside of a shirt box. We were riveted to learn what came next. I imagine this was prompted by a question, perhaps a passing inquiry that lead to several nights of drawing and showing as planets joined the solar system and we waited in anticipation for the next tidbit of knowledge. From your perch at the end of the bed, you taught us we could learn from any question, using any materials and that sharing knowledge is a gift often started at home.
Thank you, Dad, today and every day for instilling the value of learning and growing by inviting me into the world of inquisitive thought and expansion. It is one of your greatest gifts and for that I am grateful. For you, I am grateful!
