Tolly P. Salz

Literature provides worlds of wonder and escape:  slipping into a microcosmic existence for a while, we are able to wonder who we are, to wonder of what we can become.  Such an escape can bring us face to face with those we admire as well as with those we want to avoid, and, with the turning of a page, we are relieved to find respite of sorts from antagonistic villains and boogeymen.  By our very nature, we find ourselves rooting for the archetypal hero, recognizing him even in the most untraditional, unexpected places.

We recognize him in Maycomb County, Alabama as a single father raising his children to be men and women of character and purpose.  As an attorney possessing the courage and integrity to champion justice at any cost, he teaches his children what it is to climb inside the skin of another human being and walk around in it.  By his example, he teaches them what it is to do the right thing regardless of what those in the community might say otherwise.  Even when it hurts, Atticus Finch teaches the lessons so that his children will know “right” from “wrong.”  He serves as not only their father, but also their mentor, their guide, their advocate. 

We also recognize the father figure floating down the Mississippi River with a young boy in the 1850’s.  While not related by blood, the runaway slave and young renegade share more love than the young boy has  previously known from his own father, an abusive drunk more interested in money than in the joys and pains of raising his own child.  Night after night, day after day, it is Jim—and not Pap Finn—who provides the guidance and nurturing that all children need.  Arguably, it is because of Jim’s presence in his life that Huck Finn begins to understand better the conflict between his heart’s conviction and society’s values, and as a result, he makes the difficult (yet obvious) choice to do right and sets the course for freedom for all.

It’s fathers like these who guide our paths, who prepare our futures.  Parenting isn’t easy, but when we stop to ask what kind of fathers we want our own children to become, the answer can be found in these texts, and, if we are lucky enough, in our own lives as well.

I was that lucky, and so are my children, to have a father and grandfathers who love them beyond belief.  Today, may each child stop not only to say thank you to all fathers—fictitious or not—who have helped shape lives, but also to recognize the character of greatness that has allowed for such growth to take root.  For these are the seeds we should be planting for future generations of fathers.

Not just Maycomb County and the small towns lining the banks of the Mississippi River need a good father figure; so, too, do we.  Look around.  They are here, on our playgrounds, in our athletic arenas, and inside our homes.  These fathers shape our character so that one day, with conviction, we can be the authors of our own beautiful story.

Happy Father’s Day to all who play a special role in the life of a child.