Happy Father's Day

The thing that sticks out in my memory about our dads were their commitments to long hours to their work and family. Hobbies, vacations, long weekends and floating holidays were not in their mindset or part of their lives. In their minds, if they worked hard and were successful and saved money, it was their means of giving to their children the things that they never had.

Our dads were raised during the depression years which left a lasting impression in how they would live their own lives and their teachings to us would reflect those values. During those difficult years and during World II many provisions were being rationed. Everyone was affected by the war and each citizen was asked to sacrifice for the war effort. You needed ration stamps for meat, sugar, butter, oils and cheese. Rationing stamps were issued according to the size of the family. One of the items that I clearly remember being scarce was bubble gum, bubble gum is formulated with rubber in order to give it greater strength. Rubber was important to the war cause. When dad did get an order of gum, I was a popular guy in school.

I recall recycling was a big thing, save aluminum cans to make ammunition, paper, cardboard, and scrap metal for guns, tanks, etc.

Everyone had a Victory Garden, growing their own food, therefore, the invariable reminder of “eat all your food and don’t be wasteful”.

It was important for them to emphasis to us the importance of education, work to the best of our ability, and be good citizens and stay out of trouble.

Our Dads showed the way for us to be good fathers and to provide for our children as they provided for us. I am thankful for Dad’s and Tony’s pioneering spirit that brought them from a tiny farming village near the province of Guangdong, China to the Gold Mountains of America.

We are left to wonder how very fortunate we really are … Our family is truly The American Dream.

This is my favorite quote:

"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose forever our ventures."




And my father had the vision to take that voyage when the tide was full and was rewarded beyond his wildest dreams, America is truly the land of opportunity.