You spend a lot of time on the air talking about the importance of a father in children's lives, especially their sons, and I wanted to share a short story. My husband and I were taking my 88-year-old mother-in-law out to dinner. He dropped us off at the door while he parked the car. She uses a cane and looks very frail.
When we got into the restaurant, there was a short wait. There were some benches along the wall that were full. Two men in their 50's were sitting together and deliberately not making eye contact so they would not be expected to give up their seat for my mother-in-law. The rest of the bench was taken up by a young family: the dad, their 3-year-old toddler son, the mom, a 5-year-old daughter and an infant. The father took his young son by the hand, said quietly, "C'mon Buddy" and they both stood up and walked away from the seats. He nodded to us, motioned to the vacated seats and said, "Ladies"... I was so touched, not only that he gave up his own seat, but his gentle training of his very young son. This little boy will grow up to respect his mother, his wife and his elders.
Cindie
