I was going to write about this nice little letter I got yesterday from Erica. It was full of all caps, underlined, bold, italicized words as well as a whole paragraph that was in bold type and underlined. The whole letter ended with a “our God is so good.” There was also a prewritten reply I was supposed to make along with a contribution. Nah. Not gonna talk about that. Gotta clean the horse patooey and cow pies outta the barn.

Veteran’s Day is upon us. I always think of Dad during this time. In another month and a couple of days, his birthdate will come up as well. I’ve written commemorative pieces about him before. I wrote one years ago before he died that stayed on the front page of a popular website for a couple of years. That piece was well liked, but it’s time to do it again because Dad was a remarkable fellow.

He had his faults and made mistakes. I’m not going to try to make him a saint because a saint he was not. He was just like the rest of us humans, struggling to make sense of it all and being human at the same time.

Dad was a veteran of WWII. His service to his country and fellow sailors was exemplary. He exhibited an incredible amount of courage while under fire and a lifelong loyalty to his country and his family.

What I want to write about today is the series of lessons he left me with, lessons that could well be taught to the next generation. He had a lot of wisdom gathered from a lot of heartbreaking experiences. He tried to pass that knowledge along to my brother and me.

One of the things he used to say is “don’t judge a person by their appearance. Judge them by their actions.” Today we have quite a few people in high places who say a lot of things we want to hear leaders say. Unfortunately, their actions are not in line with the words they speak. Dad would want to hold them accountable. We also need to follow Dad’s lead in treating those who appear to be different with hospitality and love. People who are genuine with us should be given the same respect.

Along with this, he also was honest and preached honesty. But he didn’t just preach it, he lived it. There were several times he was invited to do dishonest deeds and would have profited greatly from any one of them. No, not my dad. He turned all of them down and served as a model for my brother and I. He demanded that we be honest with him as well and were held accountable when we were not. He was a great teacher.

Another handy thing he taught me is that when you have a problem you can’t solve, go to five different people who have five different ways of looking at the world. Ask them all the same questions and take what you need from the best of what each has to say. Great advice that has served me well. He added that one should never seek advice from just one person. Well, that is good advice, but I still miss his advice. There are times when I just wish I could have one phone call with him to see what he thought about something. Sigh.

There was a multitude of lessons he taught me that I tried to pass on to my kids. He taught me hunting, fishing, and a respect and love of nature. Card games, food prep in a primitive situation, how to pick out the best rib eye, the list goes on and on. Respect for him and other elders was one of the most important items on his list. Kids these days don’t respect elders, nor do they seek advice or knowledge from them as in my childhood. The media have taught them to ask Google or Copilot or whatever the name of some AI or search engine is and respect celebrities.

Teaching has been taken out of the hands of parents. Their time is limited by the amount of time they need to spend working and they can’t keep up with the fast pace of technological change. Elders just don’t know anything anymore. I’m here to say that respecting and learning from parents and other elders is one of the most important lessons children of this age could learn.

In any case, Dad was a great teacher. I learned a lot from him. I miss him greatly. Most of all, I miss the unconditional love he gave my brother and I, love that came straight from the heart.