Daddy. The ones we lost. Please share yours.

[GaYellowDawg]

38. My father...

Was a husband first, a father second, and a history professor third. He was much-beloved by his students. We could count on him being stopped out in public by students telling him how much they loved his class and how much he made them love history. He was a phenomenal teacher. As good a teacher as he was, he was a better father. Any time I do something right, I know it's what he would have done. Any time I do something wrong, it's usually something he would have avoided. I never had a moment's doubt in my lifetime that he loved me. He was completely supportive in the right way. And by that, I mean that when I did something good or something right, he backed me completely and let me know he was proud. When I did something bad or wrong, he let me know that he did not back or support my actions, but I still knew he loved me and would help me right whatever I'd done. I couldn't imagine anyone being a better father. And as good a father he was, he was a husband first. He and my mother were married 48 years. Every time she came in the room, he would light up. He never stopped being that way. She was the most important thing in his life, and everything else was a distant second. He was also a wonderful grandfather. He was brilliant, funny, was a true scholar, had the best people skills I've ever seen, was charismatic, put his family first, was hard-working, and one of the most caring people I've ever known.

He was also courageous. Cancer took him, but he fought it fiercely. He had two different radiation regimens, and had 52 chemo therapies with four different agents. I've never known someone to fight it harder. And he didn't fight it for himself. He fought to try to stay with us. That's how much he loved us.

If I am ever a fraction of the spouse, father, or teacher that he was, I'll be doing fine in life. Heroes tend to fall away from us in life. He never will.