A Father's Day Remembrance

My parents’ wedding day. Dad was a corporal in the U.S. Army during WWII.

Today, while I revel in my own fatherhood (thanks to my lovely wife and three wonderful children), I also remember my father. I lost him more than 20 years ago, yet often feel like he’s still with me. Sometimes I think my mother had more influence over me, as she was the one who stayed home while my Dad was working when my sisters and I were kids. But in many ways, I am my father’s son.

As I said in the eulogy I delivered at Dad’s funeral, “My father was a good man.” There are many more praises I could bestow on him, and some that I did express that day, but in the end it all boils down to remembering Dad as good. Because he was.

In 2009, I started a blog I called “Reflections of a Boston Lawyer,” and later dubbed this Substack with the same name. A few weeks ago, I learned that I could import all of its posts into this publication, and so I did.

One of the posts, written ten years ago, includes some memories of both my parents, but especially my Dad, in the context of the musical environment in which my sisters and I were raised. It’s a story about music, but even more so about one of my father’s most salient traits - his generous spirit - for which the story provides one small but typical example.

Rather than write a new post today, I thought I’d recycle that one, so here it is. I hope readers will find something in it that causes them to reflect fondly about their own fathers. And I wish all of you who are fathers a most excellent day.