In Remembrance

My mom has always felt I needed a father figure. My biological wasn't there, so she's gone out of her way to find men from whom I could learn and grown. I was never too interested in all of that, feeling that things needed to be organic. It always felt so forced.

The same was true when she began dating someone while I was away in college. I resisted him every time he tried to have some sort of impact on my life. I hadn't had a father for my first 18 years, it made no sense to me to have one now. He never stopped trying.

Now, 11 years after he became the kind of man to my mother that she truly deserved, he is gone. And now I realize that the man who never could remember that I don't like nuts in cookies is the same one who never stopped supporting me in any way he could.

For that, I am forever grateful.

Lyman Gilbert.
Three-time bronze star recipient and World War II veteran.
Great and kind man.