By
the time you recognize your father, he is a social relative. He may be close
or distant, reserved or boisterous, a pal or a disciplinarian. You evaluate,
and maybe judge, him originally when you are a very inexperienced child.
However, the first years of your relationship with him do not completely
consciously register in your mind. Eventually, if you are blessed, you begin
to put it together. Your father is the man who gave you half of your being,
your existence, your life. He, or some surrogate, gave you some more of
his/her own life through support, care, instruction, advice, and affection.
You can work hard to repay your father or a surrogate for services rendered
since you were conceived; but, you cannot live long enough to repay your
father for the gift of life – and repayment doesn’t matter to him – he loves
you anyway, because you are OF him. If you are really blessed, you worked
and rested with your father, You made each other laugh and, more
importantly, smile. After he passes away, you learn about him at an
accelerating rate. The story about your mother is much the same. Each of us
has only one mother; and, each of us has only one father.
