Monday would have been my father’s 100^th birthday.  So, my sisters and brothers had a birthday party-on Zoom!  My sister Catherine even baked a birthday cake which, unfortunately, we couldn’t share. 

What fun to see my siblings after such a long time of isolation.  My family is all over the country: California, Missouri, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Florida… and many more states.  It’s a large family brought together through the miracle of technology.

I really can’t tell you what my father’s reaction to such a celebration would be.  I am sure that he would have rather been there in person.  He died in 1999-just before the tech explosion took us by storm and he never used a computer or a cell phone. 

However, he was a great believer in the human brain and how we can use it to better our lives.  He encouraged us to read without ceasing, to study with all our efforts and bring a better world into being.  So, I think that he would be very excited about the development of these marvelous inventions and their everyday use in our lives.

He was a complicated man with some difficult issues emanating from the depths of his youth and war experiences.  He was a man of great faith and devotion to God.  No matter what was going on in his life, he attended church with us.  He prayed with us.  He gave us good advice, often cautioned with the words, “Do as I say, not as I do.”  He was a very human father.

He provided us with a human example of God’s unconditional love and acceptance-no matter what we did.  He never made us feel “less than.”  And we often were “less than.” 

Dear Heavenly Father, thank you from the bottom of my heart for the gift of my earthly father.  Imperfect as he was, he loved You and taught us to love and trust in Your goodness and unconditional love.  He taught us to honor and worship you even in the difficult days that come in life on earth.  Your gifts are abundant and everlasting.  Amen.

Terri