Day 22, January 22

Today is my father's birthday.  Dad would have been 94.

My father was only fourteen when his father died at the height of the Great Depression.  The oldest boy in the family, he felt it his duty to help provide for his widowed mother and his brothers and sisters.  With that in mind, he found a job with a nearby farmer for chopping wood.  His pay for the work--$2.25.

He worked all day and into the evening, still not finishing, but he kept at it, determined to keep his word.   What a simple but profound concept--keeping one's word.  My father viewed it not as something special but as a given.

Today, honoring one's commitments and living up to what we say we will do is, sadly, out of fashion.  We have come to expect politicians, athletes, and other media personalities to lie to us.  And isn't that unfortunate?

So, for today, I am grateful for those who keep their word.  I am always grateful for my father.