Yesterday, June 15, 2013 was the 7 year anniversary of the passing of my Father – Mario DeJohn. As I spent this Father’s day with family, I quietly reflected on my father’s gift to me. This gift really hit home earlier this week, and if you give me a few minutes, I would like to explain. I spent a great weeklong vacation with my family in Williamsburg, VA, and Washington, D.C. It was in Washington D.C. where I really appreciated the gift my father gave to me. As we were walking along the Mall, we visited the World War II Memorial (for those of you who haven’t visited this memorial, please do.) As we were walking up to the memorial, I started to tell Denise that the last time I visited was with my Uncle Buddy. As I was explaining this, I began to get very choked up, and started to shed a tear. For on that day with my uncle, as we were walking around he met a man wearing a WWII Baseball Cap with his unit number on it. Immediately my Uncle and this gentleman started talking like they were old friends who were reacquainted, but they were in 2 different theaters of battle. My dad never did get to visit the WWII Memorial, but as I was walking around, I felt both his presence, as well as my two uncles John, and Bartholomew, and this is where I realized the gift of my father. My father was not rich, but we had everything we needed. He was not college educated, but was very intelligent, and was a great teacher. Was very strict, and had temper, but in his own way was very loving, caring, and like all involved in the war effort during World War II, he sacrificed for the betterment of his family. It took me a while to realize how much he sacrificed until I had my own family. He worked hard to provide for us, built things for us, and supported us in our endeavors. His teaching philosophy was simple…There was the right way, the wrong way, and Mario’s way, with Mario’s way being the right outcome, but without the BS in the middle. And if you made a mistake, he would make you completely do the task over until it was done right. Many of the lessons like the last one didn’t sink in until later. But it was these subtle lessons which made him great. He, along with my 2 uncles, taught us kids that keeping your word is more important than anything, that if you say you’re going to do something, do it. Don’t make promised you can’t keep. And his greatest gift is that family is family, and do what you have to protect them, feed them, cloth them, and let them succeed on their own, and if we made a mistake, make them aware of it, and help them to fix it. But the greatest gift was to be who you are, and be proud of who you are. So this brings me back to the WWII memorial. As I was walking around, I felt a great sense of pride walking around thinking about the sacrifices of my Father, his two brothers, and all the men and women who sacrificed themselves. They people of all different races, cultures, and economic diversity, but they were proud of whom they were, and no one can take that away from them. And this is what I hope to instill in my family, friends, students, and anyone I meet. So on behalf of my father, my mother, and me, Thank you for letting me vent. I want to wish a Happy Father’s Day to all, and remember, be yourself, your kids will appreciate it later. chris
Posted on: Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:34:05 +0000
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