I have many role models, some famous, some not. Most of them are women. Especially after I became a mother, I looked to mothers with different kinds of jobs and different kinds of philosophies as examples as I figured out my own path. But, if I had to choose one role model, there is no doubt it would be my father.
His work ethic is enviable; his modesty even more so. He doesn’t need public praise or external validation. In fact, he wouldn’t like it if I told him I was writing this essay. He never talked about working hard to us, his six kids, but he did not have to. We all knew. We knew that the comfortable life we had was in suburban Long Island because of that hard work. My father lived the American dream, or North American dream — he is Canadian, after all. He climbed the socioeconomic ladder though his hard work in a way that is lamentably rare today. Continue reading It’s Our Dad