Lessons My Father Taught Me

Lessons My Father Taught Me

Dear Editor:

Now we know that kids who grow up without a father in the home are truly disadvantaged. Worse than poverty is the absence of a strong, loving father to provide guidance, discipline, strength and leadership in the home.

John Henry Waddey, my dad, has been gone now for some four years. Yet daily I think about the lessons he taught me and my siblings. Dad was a hard-working, no non-sense, man. He had only a grammar school education but he was no fool. His education came from he school of hard-knocks. The following are some of the things he taught me. They may be of value to some young father with kids to raise, or to someone with no father to teach them.

Study hard and work hard and you will get ahead in life.

Hard work never hurt anyone.

Don't start a job unless you intend to finish it.

Any job worth doing, is worth doing right.

With hard work and discipline, any job can be completed.

Poverty is not something you wallow in. Don't expect someone else to pay your way. Poverty is a challenge to overcome.

Don't ask anyone to do for you what you can do for yourself.

Be responsible, reliable and dependable.

Be faithful to your job and your duties. Be there every day, be on time, work hard and do a good job for your company.

If you are old enough to get married, you are old enough to move out and make it on your own.

If you want credit, go to work and earn it.
Use credit sparingly; never buy what you cannot afford.

If you really want something, its worth waiting and sacrificing for.
Pay your bills first, then if money is left over, spend it for recreation and/or entertainment.

Be clean - there is no excuse for being dirty and unkempt.

If you borrow something, make sure you return it in as good shape as when you took it.

Be early to your appointments. Don't keep folks waiting for you.

When you do anything, like driving a car, always think of the safety of others.

Never be a bother to anyone else.

If you get in trouble with the law, expect to pay your own fine.

Be kind to handicapped people and to pets and animals.

Always respect your mother.

Take care of your aged kinfolks, its your duty.

With determination and discipline, a man can overcome any habit, including tobacco and alcohol.

He and my mom taught us the meaning of marriage "till death do you part."

Dad is gone, but his lessons will always be part of me.

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