Honor Your Father and Mother

Renee, thank you for sharing this story. You have every reason to be proud, proud, proud of your father. Let him know while you can. My father wanted me to take over his business, a beauty shop; mother wanted a scholar. Mother got her wish. However, my father, who never finished grade 8 because he had to work on the family farm, always admired education. His son here has achieved for him what he did not get.

In fact, the last time we talked in the nursing home, literally the last time I saw him alive, we told the nurse, who was saying how her son planned to go to college, about how it was our dream to have somebody from our family get a university degree. And, I said, because of my father's hard work, values, we have done it. I have a Ph.D. and teach in the university three blocks from here.

It was literally a "perfect" closing for his life. For the next phone call told me he was dying, in a coma. I shall always cherish this memory. I am also thankful that I had the chance to thank him directly for his faith in me and hard work to achieve our dream. As I left that day, he called out, "Don't forget me." As I teach you and others, I remember him and honor his life's work and values. Honor your father - and mother - while you can.