Honoring A Great Man.

I'm sorry to write that my Dad passed away this morning. Tomorrow's show for November 24 will be canceled. I will air my interview with Ron House of wingedheart.org at a later date and hopefully we will reschedule Tricia Barry from Farm Sanctuary to speak about their Adopt-A-Turkey program in December.

I want to take a minute to honor my Dad. For 40 some years he was a dentist with a private practice and had a great role at the Erie County Medical Center where he saw patients and mentored the dental students.

He touched so many people, right down to the nurses who cared for him the last three days while he was in hospital.


Dad was a teacher. In the very obvious way he shared his passion and years of experience mentoring countless dental students, But in a very quiet way he was a teacher to all he met sharing his wisdom and knowledge of living life fully.

I was thinking about the lessons I learned from my dad and I wanted to share some of these with you today.

He taught me that no matter how I feel inside never take it out on others. If I’m in a bad mood it's a reason to be even nicer.

He taught me to greet people when you see them, whether you know them or not.He taught me to take interest in the lives of others.

He taught me to love what I do, and do what I love.

He taught me to take pride in my own actions because others won’t always acknowledge you, but if you feel good about what you’ve done or created, that’s all that matters.

He taught me to be grateful for all I have while still believing in the promise of something more.

He taught me to laugh and if things are going bad, laugh even more.

He taught me that everything can be eased by telling a really bad joke.

He taught me that the underdog is often a diamond in the rough.

He taught me to love learning.

He taught me to love freely.

He taught me to love deeply.

And he taught me to live honestly and to never have anything to regret.

These are lessons he taught me and I know they are lessons he taught many others.

Dad was not only a great dad but he was a great man.

The road didn't always rise to meet him and the wind wasn't always at his back, but he was a man of quiet courage, faith, love and joy and I am certain God will always hold Dad in the hollow of his hand.

It was Albert Einstein who said, "Our death is not an end if we can live on in our children and the younger generation." With that I know Dad will live on for years to come with the gifts of his teaching rippling through lives of all he touched.