Two magnificent fathers

A Father’s Day post from a few years ago …

I spent Father’s Day with my parents in Fredericksburg, Texas. We had a wonderful time.

When I returned home, I reviewed my email, skimmed the latest headlines from the Associated Press (old habit), scrolled for a few moments through Twitter, and numbly drifted through my Facebook newsfeed. A post from the Theodore Roosevelt Association revived me to full attention. They too celebrated Father’s Day. They posted a few touching thoughts on Roosevelt’s love for his family:

Roosevelt always saw his family as the needle of his life’s compass. … The study of Teddy Roosevelt as a father is a testament to his priorities. He did not live to see his face on Mount Rushmore or to appreciate just how much he captured the imagination of the country. But he did live to see the children he loved grow to adulthood and develop into honest, hardworking citizens who built families of their own.

I can think of another loving father who put his family above and beyond anything else he accomplished or experienced in life, who taught me how a man becomes and remains a true father to his children. I’m sure you’ll understand my fervent belief that his face should be on a mountain too.

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers — and to my own.

Author: Fernando Ortiz Jr.

Handsome gentleman scholar, Civil War historian, unpretentious intellectual, world traveler, successful writer. View all posts by Fernando Ortiz Jr.