(Community Matters) Happy Fathers Day, Dad.
Fortunately, I’ve spent a bit of time with my folks recently. Wednesday, Michael & I spent the evening with them since they were in Houston for meetings. I even had breakfast with my father on Thursday. Dad & mom hosted us at the ranch the week earlier – dinner, riding around in their golf carts, checking out dad’s new chicken coop prepared for his 28 new Rhode Island Reds arriving 6/28 by FedEx, new plantings, the fish in the stock pond, and a long visit over beers outside.
I’ve always been proud of my parents, who started rich in love and family and have built upon this treasure all our lives. [well, there were those adolescent years when it wasn’t cool to be outwardly proud but I always was.]
When they married, they didn’t have material wealth – even had to convince one of my father’s brothers & favorite cousins to travel with them by car to Monterrey, Mexico on their honeymoon so they could split costs and afford the trip. Dad grew up with 12 brothers and sisters, though my grandmother had two other children who didn’t survive infancy.
Dad didn’t even speak English until he started school in Houston (born and first raised in Sweetwater, Texas as sharecroppers). Inherited his parents’ work ethic though he dropped out of school. Though, somehow he saw the light, enrolled in the Army and learned a trade. I’m not sure what led to his enlightenment – I need to ask (perhaps my two uncles who were in and out of prison all their lives) – but he’s been an extraordinarily hard worker and has read & studied voraciously all his adult life. Even though they started with no money, they’ve both worked hard and have propelled their children, grandchildren and more than a few nieces, nephews and godchildren up the socio-economic ladder, mostly by encouraging and financing higher education.
Even without a high school diploma, Dad rose to president of a subsidiary & group vice president of a public company. He finally retired, after three tries! He’s always taught me lots about business and people, even when he thinks I’m not listening or accepting his advice :).
One of his most powerful workplace lessons has been not to focus on yourself but to make the people above and below you look good. Fairness: there are always two sides. Calm: (I haven’t learned this one well enough but may finally be acquiring it in my mid years). Family: little is as important (I agree & I expand the definition of family). Management: listen, learn and guide (I never heard or heard of my father raising his voice in the workplace. Though, I suspect behind the closed doors of his office – which he used sparingly, always preferring a desk in the middle of the plant – his voice would sometimes be raised several decibels, only to chief lieutenants, never others).
High school friends still drop in on my parents. His brothers, sisters, children, nieces, nephews, godchildren & friends are constant guests in their homes. There’s a true open door policy in their lives and always a place at their tables, always enough food for three more. In the Hispanic culture, there are few honors like asking a man to be your child’s godfather. My father and mother have 14 godchildren, and they quit taking on others over 20 years ago. Today being Father’s Day, I especially want to note my love, respect and admiration for my dad, Eloy Vela Sepulveda. The same is true for my mother, Gloria. I should have written this on Mother’s Day.
