Father's Day

"We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants. We see more, and things that are more distant, than they did, not because our sight is superior or because we are taller than they, but because they raise us up, and by their great stature add to ours." ~attributed to John of Salisbury 11c monk and later idea expressed by Sir Isaac Newton..."If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."


My dad was a tall man, he seemed like a giant to me, and when he put me up on his shoulders I was thrilled with the view. Sometimes he'd hold on to me by my ankles leaving my arms free to fly about. I loved it when he'd throw me up and catch me shrieking, fly me ... fly me .
Thanks for encouraging me to go over the mountain and really look for what I could see ... thanks for encouraging me to decide for myself what to see and what I thought of what I could see ... thanks for underlining the idea that "you can't believe everything you see" ... thanks for helping me understand that just because I see it that way doesn't always mean I'm right, or when I won't/can't see it at all doesn't mean it's not real ... What I am trying to say is thanks for teaching me to believe in myself ... thanks for helping me want to stop short of arrogance and lack of compassion.

Thanks Daddy, for being such a great dad and friend. I don't know how you pulled it off, but I felt like I could talk with you about anything. I liked it that you listenned so intently. I liked it that your comments felt like ideas and not commands.

Thanks for the care you took of us. I miss you.