He's always been a helpful guy. People in the neighborhood still come to him to this day when they need something. Maybe something is wrong with their car or they need a ride to work. He's always willing to help and all he asks for in return is a sincere "thank you".
Those things are well and good, but it's the little things that makes him so great in my eyes. I remember once when he was driving home from somewhere late at night. Maybe it was a trip home from Chicago or somewhere far off, but there was a car in front of him that occasionally veered out of its lane.
My father recognized that the person driving the vehicle was sleepy and had difficulties paying attention to the road. So, instead of passing him like most people would and leaving the man to fend for himself, my father did something unexpected: he aggressively blew his car horn at the man.
The drive immediately corrected himself and returned back into the lane.
After 5 or 6 more minutes, the car veered to the right once again and my father blew his horn to get his attention. Every time it appeared that the man was going to sleep, my father would blow his horn to wake him. He did that for at least 10-15 miles! Even though the man was going slower than the speed limit, probably due to fatigue, my father hung in there with him and made sure he stayed awake.
Finally, the man reached his exit and left the highway. As he was exiting the road, he rolled down his window and waved his hand at my father as he drove by. He recognized what my father did for him and showed his appreciation for it by acknowledging him.
My father won't get any type of medal or recognition for what he did. He's a believer that you always do the right thing and try to help people even when no one is looking. That's how you know you're a good person. But, he did gain something that evening: my admiration and my desire to be just as thoughtful as he is.
Ok, I teared up on this one. I shared some information with him the other day, and the wisdom he gave me was so profound.Being a single mother of a young black male can be challenging at times. I can teach him many things, but being a man is not one of them. I shared with Pop that I struggle sometimes with this. I am shedding tears now, as I think of what he said to me. Your dad is remarkable, and I now understand at a greater magnitude how your character was developed.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I appreciate that. He's a complicated guy on the outside, but a softie on the inside. He's very thoughtful and will go out of his way to help someone. Although I've had some struggles as of late in maintaining a similar attitude to people I deem as ungrateful, I still try to latch on to what I've learned by example from him. People need people and despite society teaching us the opposite, we have to somehow continue to believe that.
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