From Today

I added a lot to this when I got up to speak, but below is the gist of what I said.

My father was someone who never stopped trying to tell me to never stop challenging myself in what I do and what I want to accomplish. Even if I didn’t listen. Even if he always didn’t use those words.

Too much of my time was spent trying to please him, which was completely beside the point.

It always baffled me that he never seemed to take credit for the things he did. Articles on things like a football team he helped to create from scratch, he was barely mentioned in the papers. Talking with him, I learned that it was exactly the way he wanted it.

Looking through his files, listening to and reading stories over the last two days, I learned so much from his life that he just preferred to keep to himself. Articles written about his town politics days, a scathing editorial written as if he were a presidential hopeful, his MASH unit days, stories of what he would do for needy children during the Christmas season.

My father did all this for himself. Because that’s the kind of man he wanted to be. If he asked for a large funeral, he just wanted to have all his loved ones gathered one last time, to share stories and help create new ones.

If we grieve today, we should save a moment in our hearts to celebrate the life of my father and thank him for selflessly sharing it with us.