My Father Remembered

My father was the best man I ever knew. He combined strength and courage with gentleness, tenderness, and great unselfishness. I would have loved to display a photo of him but he passed long before I entered the digital age and without necessary technology with me, his image of playing the piano will do for now.
He would not tolerate in us children selfishness, cruelty, idleness, cowardice, or untruthfulness. With great love and patience and the most understanding and consideration, he combined insistence on discipline.  He never physically punished me but once, but he was the only man of whom I was ever really afraid. I do not mean that it was a wrong fear, for he was entirely just, and we children adored him.
I never attempted to escape from the shadow of my father. I never tried to establish an independent reputation for myself. I always felt that I was kind of accountable to a family trust. I have a special sense of that great legacy, being the son of the finest man, the happiest man, I have ever known. He showed me what it means to live for right. He was a living illustration of the American ideal and spirit. All that I have ever done has been little more than an attempt to live up to an honor that legacy. My Father’s Day wish for all of you out there is that you can have but a slice of what I have been exposed to due to my father.