I shot this photo 25 years ago when dad was but a few years older than I am now. Dad and I are very different people; different tastes, different beliefs. But we’re a lot alike and when we’re together, like best friends. He instilled in me at minimum, his attitudes toward living, love and responsibility. With an unparalleled work ethic, a strong belief that all men ARE created equal and should be treated as such without bias, prejudice or partiality, he believes we are all responsible, including the government, for improving the lives and welfare of our fellow man, and opportunities made equally available.

I’m quite sure that as he “yanks that donkey’s tail” in the voting booth this fall as he so eloquently puts it, he won’t think twice about his vote for an african-american for president because he knows he’s the best man for the job to reverse our nation’s current direction of unilateralism, economic stagnation and taxation on the backs of those less fortunate, and irresponsible governance with removed visibility.

Now almost 80, I can count on, well two hands anyway, the number of days he’s missed over the last four years making the 20 mile drive to spend time with my mom in the nursing home as she suffers from Alzheimer’s. This he does out of love and responsibility, the same as he did to support his family over the years and continues to be the backbone of our family. With only a high school diploma, he enabled and provided the support for all of his children to succeed through college, some with advanced degrees and on to rewarding careers and yet, we each still strive to reach the goals he set as our role model.

All this from an impoverished small-town Tennessee boy who would savor and make his 5-cent Hershey bar last a week in the hip pocket of his trousers. Thanks Dad.