The relationship between a father and daughter is often very special, but especially when you are the only child and the last grandchild of all of the grandchildren. I’m the baby of not just my family, but the entire family!
My father’s name is Russell Beaulieu, and anyone who has spent any time with me has had heard at least one of my many stories about my Dad.
See, I am truly a Daddy’s girl – actually at 50 years old, I still call him Daddy. I know it’s pathetic, but completely true and I don’t apologize one minute for it. And c’mon guys, I can’t be the only one who still does that. Right?
At every level, my father is my hero. He grew up in a time where they often had to forgo new coats and where hand-me-downs were always a blessing from the cousins who had money. He didn’t actually realize he was poor until he went to college and learned that not everyone got their sugar with yellow tickets (that’s how the rations were given out then).
See? He never sees the bad. He only sees the good, and truly believes that people are fundamentally good.
My father is the youngest boy of 7 children. One brother died at birth, another was hit by a train when he was 17 years old walking on the train tracks (he tried to jump out of the way not knowing there was another train coming the other way), and another brother died of a surgical error.
His family is what my uncle referred to as “poor poor.” When I asked for the definition, he told me that the poor people in town were happy they moved in because there was finally a family poorer than them!
My father’s name is Russell Beaulieu, and anyone who has spent any time with me has had heard at least one of my many stories about my Dad.
See, I am truly a Daddy’s girl – actually at 50 years old, I still call him Daddy. I know it’s pathetic, but completely true and I don’t apologize one minute for it. And c’mon guys, I can’t be the only one who still does that. Right?
At every level, my father is my hero. He grew up in a time where they often had to forgo new coats and where hand-me-downs were always a blessing from the cousins who had money. He didn’t actually realize he was poor until he went to college and learned that not everyone got their sugar with yellow tickets (that’s how the rations were given out then).
See? He never sees the bad. He only sees the good, and truly believes that people are fundamentally good.
My father is the youngest boy of 7 children. One brother died at birth, another was hit by a train when he was 17 years old walking on the train tracks (he tried to jump out of the way not knowing there was another train coming the other way), and another brother died of a surgical error.
His family is what my uncle referred to as “poor poor.” When I asked for the definition, he told me that the poor people in town were happy they moved in because there was finally a family poorer than them!
My father was a great athlete growing up. In fact, that was his ticket to college. While he had a variety of options when he finished college in Mississippi, his mother took ill and he walked away from his full scholarship to law school and headed back to his hometown in Hightstown, NJ. At that point in his life, he committed to helping as many young men and women as he could to go to college.
He credits college with the transformation of his life. He realized that college was not only about “the collegiate experience,” but it was also about the experience of being exposed to other ideas, other people, and other cultures. That it would help you to understand that the one experience you have grown up in is not the only experience, but just one experience and that you have the power to change how you live the rest of your life.
Now, in Mississippi in 1950, there was still a significant racial divide. Well, unless you were poor. Poor was poor, and back then there wasn’t a separation of races because the people who happened to be black, were also poor. The economic diversity was much greater than the racial divide.
I truly believe my father never saw race, never saw money, and never saw diversity in a negative way. Instead, he saw people – and frankly, still sees people – for who they are. People with good hearts, who every day are struggling to do better for their families than those who came before.
It is just that simple. You can define yourself by your differences or you can see that we are people and we present with different good and bad assets, but at the end of the day – we all add value and matter.
On this Father’s Day, I am thankful for the struggles that my father faced growing up, and for his determination to do better for me. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for his motivation, his support, and his tenacity.
What about you? What did your Dad teach you?
6 comments:
My father taught me three very important lessons – the value of hard work, family comes first and you are never too old to say “I love you”. He was an amazing man and I am blessed to have had him as a father.
Happy Father’s Day!
My dad taught me so many things...to see the potential for greatness in everyone, to treat people with kindness even when others around me are not being kind, the importance of life long learning, the pleasure of a good book, and the privilege of spending a day at the beach. In his sudden passing, my dad taught me the most improtant lesson of all; never Ever leave a loved one without a proper good bye, becuase you never know if that is the last one you get.
My dad taught me to laugh... and how to make others laugh.
My dad taught me how to be a hard worker. Whether he had to work 24 hours at a time, 2-3 jobs at a time, or opposite schedules of my mom, sisters, and I he always made sure that he could provide for his family and be a star employee for any company he worked for.
He also taught me how to be handy and resourceful. With his help, my boyfriend and I built a walkway in the front of our house and are getting ready to build a patio in the backyard. You should've seen him with the saw, creating odd-shaped bricks to fill in the gaps for the walkway!
Megan
I don't think it's pathetic that you cll your father Daddy - I think it's sweet. I am originally from the south. And almost everyone in my southern hometown, no matter what the age, calls their parents Mama snd Daddy. I miss that.
My dad taught me kindness for every person and every animal, to always smile and laugh because it could always be worse and that it is never too late for a second chance. I am grateful for that every day.
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