June 17th is Father’s Day here in Ireland and I have been thinking about the important lessons my father taught me over his long life of ninety-one years. He died in September 2010 but those lessons are well ingrained.
# 1. Laughter is the the best medicine. Dad certainly knew how to laugh and surrounded himself with books of humour and wit.
# 2. The dictionary is one of the most useful books ever written, use it!
# 3. If you get one good photograph on a photographic expedition, you’re doing well
# 4. Regrets are often the hardest things to live with.
# 5. Never sit on wet grass unless you want to get pneumonia.
# 6. Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile. (Irish saying : One beetle recognises another beetle). In other words: ‘ It takes one to know one.’
# 7. If you watch the ball, you won’t go too far wrong in any ball game.
# 8. Trusting each other within the family will get you through more than you could ever imagine.
# 9. Never forget the importance of a smile.
# 10. You’ll find it hard to discover a more beautiful place in the world than West Clare.
SOCIAL BRIDGE ~ Jean Tubridy connecting with you from Ireland 
Love this Jean, especially the photograph…how adorable. Your father taught you well! I hope you don’t mind that I have posted a few things my father, who is still with me at 88 years of age, taught me too.
1. Laughter…with all his play-on-words “daddy” jokes. They still make me smile!
2. To be the best that I can be, whatever I want to be.
3. To drive safely.
4. Breakfast is the most important….and best….meal of the day! He has breakfast together with me every Sunday.
5. To love God, family, country….and the NY Mets 😉
Nancy, I love your list. Seems like laughter IS a very strong medicine! Your reference to driving brings me back to lessons Father couldn’t teach me – or at least – it was so terrible for both of us that we decided to ‘drop it.’ My first day out on the road with him, the accelerator cable snapped leaving the pedal lying limply on the floor. Car ground to a halt ~ traffic was building up behind us even though it was a road that was meant to be one of those roads that no one ever uses! Hooting horns, Dad roaring at me to ‘get moving…. just press the damn accelerator….. what do you mean you can’t?’
Years on, when I took him for drives, he always complimented me on my driving and said with a wry smile, ‘ I taught you well!’
Hope you have a delicious breakfast with your father today.
My dad passed away in 1997 after losing the battle with cancer. There are so many things he taught me – mostly by example. The main things I remember were: 1) Always try to do the right thing. 2) Have patience with people – (you never know what they are dealing with in their lives). 3) When making decisions – lean toward the hardest to achieve – it’s usually the right one. ‘Be genuine.’ You will always be at your best if you are. He followed his own advice and was very successful and loved by almost everyone that knew him. Many people travelled long distances to attend his funeral. I think that says a lot. He truly was a great man.
Hi Brian, what a lovely tribute to your father and thank you so much for sharing life’s lessons that he taught you. Such wisdom. He was obviously a very keen reader of people. I especially like No. 2 about having patience with people … but all are incredibly profound. He certainly left a great legacy!
Thanks Jean. My father was an amazing person as his early life was very hard. His mother died of cancer when he was 16. She was the foundation of their family (2 boys, my grandfather and her father) and they all loved her very much. My dad was crushed and his younger brother (my uncle) never recovered from the loss. Everyone was devastated when she died. This occurred on the heels of the Great Depression and just prior to entering WWII. Through the many twists and turns that followed, my father (somehow) found his way out of the depths and became a prominent attorney in the City of Chicago; ultimately with his own law firm. He was elected president of The Trial Lawyers Association of Chicago in 1973. I hope to write a book on his life story someday…
Brian, your father’s story is truly amazing. It would be great if you could write that book to celebrate his life and his determination and courage in the face of such adversity.