I have decided to comment on every chapter after I am done reading it and so I will start with chapter five by saying that my father was a Highway Patrolman and a local minister. Therefore like many of the men and boys mentioned in the book I to struggled to have a good relationship with my father. He was my spirtual leader as well as the represenative of the law and it made for a very difficult relationship. I am sure it was difficult because in my mind I was afraid to be anything less than what I was expected to be and therefore I never tried to reciprocate whatever he tried to give.
I went in to teaching because I wanted to be a mentor to those who struggled to have someone to talk to the way I did. I wanted to be a mentor to those who needed it because of broken homes or other reasons. Call me idealistic, but I hoped to make a difference when I went in to teaching. I try to be a postive male role model to the young men that I teach in the hope that I can make a positive difference.
I think this is a great book because it helps me to recognize the shortcomings that I have in my own relationships with my son, my brothers, and my dad. If I get nothing else out of this book it will be the reminder that my relationships in my own personal life can always improve. This book to me is like a good therapy session only without the cost of paying for it by the hour.
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2 comments:
My father was definitely not a talker--so, as the book states, my mother often served as a "nurse and referee"! I don't think I would have survived without her! Like many other guys, my self-image is often still as "the skinny little runt" (what my siblings often called me!). Later, of course, I over-compensated via exercise, weights, etc. Now, however, I'm just elderly, pathetic, and trying to avoid hard time in prison.
Grant,
Your father as both minister and police officer must be a one-of-a-kind experience! Was this at the same time? I wonder how you read Chad's post as he describes experiences as a police officer, and how this relates to your views of your father's role as patrolman and minister.
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