Robert, le plus jeune de ses fils, a partagé un souvenir.

I remember a time in my high school journalism class when I was assigned to write a review of the movie Dune for our school’s newspaper.  My dad and I went to see the movie together, and we both agreed it was very underwhelming.  But the movie was complicated and futuristic and writing a critical review was difficult for me.  But fortunately, it was not difficult for my dad.  My dad was an excellent writer and was really super smart.  While I take a little credit for my movie review, by the time my dad edited my work and added his embellishments, my review rivaled something you would expect to read by Siskel and Ebert in the NY Times.  Needless to say, my teacher was very impressed, more newspaper assignments came my way, and I later became the school newspaper Editor in Chief.  My dad helped me become a good writer, a very hard worker, and a leader of people and I credit him for many of my successes.

I also remember my first date.  I was 15 years old, nervous as heck, and my DAD was driving us!  And while it was embarrassing at the time, it’s a memory I cherish today.  I recall pulling up to my date’s house in my dad’s car and getting ready to walk to her front door.  But before I went, my dad said, “hey, be sure you open the car door for her when you come back!”  It was a good reminder at 15 years old and I will say, I think it impressed my date.  My dad taught me many small, but profound life lessons like this, that helped shape who I am today.

And finally, when I was younger, I’ll never forget when my dad coached my soccer team and another coach tried to take our practice space.  We were the worst team in the league and we barely knew how to play.  But when the arrogant coach of the “competitive” team obnoxiously placed cones in our practice area and smugly said they had priority access to space we had already claimed, my dad quickly picked up this coach’s cones, threw them across the field, and said “sorry, we were here first and there is plenty of other space for your team to use”.  Following a tense exchange, the other coach gathered his team and left our area.  And while it was stressful for me at the time, I admired my dad for holding his ground.  I learned my dad could also be a badass when something wasn’t right and I thought that was cool.  Perhaps another life lesson I suppose.

Over the years, my dad challenged me to be great, but was never unreasonable.  He taught me to be humble, but proud.  He taught me to be polite, friendly, and accountable for my actions.  And he taught me to be tolerant and accepting.  My dad’s many life lessons shaped the person I am today, and I’m truly grateful.