Father Day

It is important that we honor both our father and our mother. Tonight I want to share a small story from the long life of my dad: Sid Sutherlin. When I was in 7th grade I ran into trouble in math. Do you remember or do they even have story problems any more?

Something about a train leaving a station at such and such a time and then another one and you were supposed to build an equation and come up with a number. I couldn't. It was beyond me.

And so, after dinner, my Dad cleared a space on the dining room table and he went through each of the story problems with me. He didn't give me the answers, because he was a natural teacher, but he let me struggle till I saw the solution. It took time and patience. He was there for me and I knew he would always help me if I ever got stuck.

I want to honor the memory of a man who taught me much. Perhaps I learned the importance of having a tutor to help at that table many years ago. I was blessed.