Happy Father's Day

Hello Everyone,

I would like like to wish all the fathers and father figures a Happy Father's Day.  I am truly grateful for my father;  he is such a man of faith and so kindhearted and has been this way all of my life.  He is the best dad and I love him so much, always having time to listen and to try and be helpful and understanding.  I mentioned in an earlier post how when I was growing up, after long days of work,  in his suit and dress shoes, he would step out of the car and race me to the corner of our block and back home.  This was pretty much everyday.  Then the neighborhood boys would so conveniently play football in front of our home and would call my dad's name, they would throw him the ball and he would play catch with them, still in his suit and hard shoes. 

I am an activist/advocate today, because of my dad.  When I was growing up, he would take me with him as he worked as a volunteer in various communities.  He was always giving of himself through community service.  I recall a local school heard about him and asked that he adopt the school and help the impoverished students.  He accepted and started a campaign to get shoes not just for the students, but for each family member who lived with the student. So many students had holes in their shoes.  I recall saying to my dad, "how are you going to get shoes for everyone in the family/"  He began explaining how he was really poor as a child and he had holes in the bottoms of his shoes, so, he would use cardboard to put in the bottom so that the bottoms of his feet would have some protection from the ground.  He was on a mission and was successful in getting shoes for these families.  He launched a campaign on his job, at church and in several neighborhoods across the city and on his own.  Then, he delivered all of these shoes to each household. He eventually, received more calls to adopt schools and as much work as it took, he continued adopting schools, he moved from campaigning for shoes to adding clothes.  As others heard of him they would donate huge bags of shoes and clothes and again, he would deliver to each family.  He helped the young, the elderly and everyone in between.  He was able to get so many people jobs by helping them find agencies that taught how to write resumes, build interviewing skills and who donated clothes for job interviews.

It was touching when he retired from his day job and I say day job, because, years later he is still trying to help people, it is just who he is. Getting back to the point, to his surprise at his retirement a large section of the room was filled with men and women who he helped and many spoke of how he stepped in and helped them one no one else would.  At one point, all them surrounded him and hugged him and cried so hard.  I just looked at everyone that my dad helped, all of these people and they are really crying.  Then his co-workers began crying; I do not think there was a dry eye in the house,       It really touched me and today, I remain inspired to make a difference in the lives of others.

He has always been strong through adversity and always held on to God's word no matter what. He is so spiritual and I am a witness that his faith has brought him thus far.


Thank you daddy, I love you so, so much. You are my hero:)

A tribute to my dad and other dads and daddy figures



Song by Mariah Carey   Video posted by +Michele O.

With inspiration,
Oreadea