An Admired Man

This is a post of a different sort.  We went to a wedding this weekend.  We being my entire family….wife, daughter, son, and daughter-in-law to be.  Our niece got married, the daughter of my wife’s brother Scott.  And as weddings go it was as beautiful as most.  There were tears of joy and laughter and dancing and great food and all the intricacies that you would imagine and have come to know in your own weddings.  But whom I want to introduce you to is the father of the bride….Scott. He is the brother of my wife, seven years my junior but I admire him more than any man I personally know.  And let me tell you a bit about him.  When he was in high school, I was his football coach.  I could tell you he was my starting fullback as a sophomore because I wanted to date his sister, but the fact is that he was just good enough to be in that position.  A few years later, after I lured his sister out of her previous engagement, he would come to the house every morning at 6 a.m. to baby sit my children, awaiting my wife’s return home from the graveyard shift.  And he did this for years without complaint, and without pay.  He did it out of the goodness of his heart.  He owed me nothing.  Some years later he met Beverly, the woman who would silently command his world.  And together they had five children, four girls and a son, now aged 23 to 14.  They are not rich. They do not live in a mansion, nor do they possess an abundance of material goods.  Yet they are one of the wealthiest couples I know.  This is due to the fact that despite setbacks, trials and tribulations that we all  encounter, I have never heard them complain.  In this day and age it is a feat to raise a couple of children, yet they have done this with five.  The five children have never been in trouble.  They go to school every day.  Yes, every day for years and all have competed in athletics since the age of five.  Can you imagine the miles, the time,  the distance from one another they have endured as a result of this.  The children all have chores…..always have.  They complete them without hesitation. They entertain themselves and often make do with things from an era of yesteryear.  The kids love each other and it’s exuded in the daily behavior.  It makes a heart feel good to watch them interact with one another.  They never get out of hand nor have they ever elicited a smart comment to their parents. I can’t say enough about them.  This can all be attributed to this man I admire.  In a day and age when parenting skills are absent and the troubled youth of today often can’t find a parent interested enough, here stands a throwback to a time forgotten.  Although I was his coach and his teacher, here is a case where the student has become the master.  Although he doesn’t know it, I have learned fathering and patience and love from this man.  He is enigmatic and a breath of fresh air amongst the false bravado of men of his generation.   His wife and his children love him dearly.  I hope his children realize the enormity of  his heart.  I know I do.