This week is always an emotional week for me. In the midst of the horrific Navy Yard shooting, and the on-going Syrian conflict, this week marks the fourth anniversary of the death of my father. I know that people lose parents every day, unfortunately. But my hope is that, maybe by reading my own reflections about the man my dad was, it may cause someone else to pause and reflect on the passing of their own parent, and remember all of the good and positive things about them. A good friend suggested that I rerun last year's post about my dad. So without further adue, Why I Am A Conservative:
This coming Saturday marks the fourth anniversary of the death of my father. I still miss him every day. He is the reason I am a Conservative.
Jerrold Fain was not a complicated man. He certainly was not born a rich man. He may not have been considered financially wealthy, but he was rich in all the ways that count.
He was the oldest of six children. He grew up in a three room house with five siblings, two parents, and no indoor plumbing until he was 15. He liked to tease my Mom that he thought he was marrying into a wealthy family because she had an indoor toilet.
At 19, he was drafted into the Army, and spent the next two years in Germany. He told my brother and I many times how he hated every minute of it, but he knew without a doubt, that it had made a man out of him. When he came home, like a lot of other young men newly discharged from the Military, he was broke. So he went to work. He and my Mother married in 1959. Their first home, a small apartment in south St. Louis. They bought their first house in 1963, and two years later, this blogger made her debut.
My Dad went to night school for a while. He would try to do homework and study, while a curious four year old just wanted to keep him company. He never got his degree, but he worked hard. I never remember him being unemployed at any time. He got promotions within the companies he worked for, many times over others who did have degrees.
He taught my brother and I that the world did not owe us a thing. If we wanted something, we were going to have to work for it. His heroes were William F. Buckley Jr., and Ronald Reagan. He marveled at Buckley's brilliance when it came to anything regarding Conservatism, and he loved Buckley's "Blackford Oakes" series of spy novels. I was a teenager, and just starting my working life when Ronald Reagan became President. My Dad said, in his quiet way, that he was the right man at the right time. When I brought my first paycheck stub to him, and pointed to two vastly different numbers, the lower one being what I got after Uncle Sam was done with me, I got my first lesson on taxes, "Remember that when you vote", he would tell me. I am also reasonably sure that no one else's father, as they went off to work, told them to "go discover the joys of capitalism". All part of his dry sense of humor that those who knew him best completely understood. "Don't be a sheep!" This was also a favorite nugget of fatherly advice, so I would not do what everybody else was doing, whatever "it" might be. Translated, don't follow the crowd. I think it is safe to say, that one did sink in. He also took me to my first Tea Party. Little did I know that it would be the only one we would go to together.
It has been a hard four years without him. I know that he would be insanely proud of all that I have accomplished in those four years. I know that he knows, that I am just getting started. Because of him, I know there is nothing I can't do.
It is those early lessons in Conservatism that made me who I am today.
Thanks Dad.
.jpg)
This coming Saturday marks the fourth anniversary of the death of my father. I still miss him every day. He is the reason I am a Conservative.
Jerrold Fain was not a complicated man. He certainly was not born a rich man. He may not have been considered financially wealthy, but he was rich in all the ways that count.
He was the oldest of six children. He grew up in a three room house with five siblings, two parents, and no indoor plumbing until he was 15. He liked to tease my Mom that he thought he was marrying into a wealthy family because she had an indoor toilet.
At 19, he was drafted into the Army, and spent the next two years in Germany. He told my brother and I many times how he hated every minute of it, but he knew without a doubt, that it had made a man out of him. When he came home, like a lot of other young men newly discharged from the Military, he was broke. So he went to work. He and my Mother married in 1959. Their first home, a small apartment in south St. Louis. They bought their first house in 1963, and two years later, this blogger made her debut.
My Dad went to night school for a while. He would try to do homework and study, while a curious four year old just wanted to keep him company. He never got his degree, but he worked hard. I never remember him being unemployed at any time. He got promotions within the companies he worked for, many times over others who did have degrees.
He taught my brother and I that the world did not owe us a thing. If we wanted something, we were going to have to work for it. His heroes were William F. Buckley Jr., and Ronald Reagan. He marveled at Buckley's brilliance when it came to anything regarding Conservatism, and he loved Buckley's "Blackford Oakes" series of spy novels. I was a teenager, and just starting my working life when Ronald Reagan became President. My Dad said, in his quiet way, that he was the right man at the right time. When I brought my first paycheck stub to him, and pointed to two vastly different numbers, the lower one being what I got after Uncle Sam was done with me, I got my first lesson on taxes, "Remember that when you vote", he would tell me. I am also reasonably sure that no one else's father, as they went off to work, told them to "go discover the joys of capitalism". All part of his dry sense of humor that those who knew him best completely understood. "Don't be a sheep!" This was also a favorite nugget of fatherly advice, so I would not do what everybody else was doing, whatever "it" might be. Translated, don't follow the crowd. I think it is safe to say, that one did sink in. He also took me to my first Tea Party. Little did I know that it would be the only one we would go to together.
It has been a hard four years without him. I know that he would be insanely proud of all that I have accomplished in those four years. I know that he knows, that I am just getting started. Because of him, I know there is nothing I can't do.
It is those early lessons in Conservatism that made me who I am today.
Thanks Dad.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment