Tag Archives: work ethic

7 Ways My Father Influenced Who I Am

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“My heroes are and were my parents. I can’t see having anyone else as my parents.”

—Michael Jordan

Today’s story contributed by Harold Herring.

my father

Harold Herring with his mother and father

When I was a freshman in college…we were asked to write a paper on the greatest man we’d ever met. It was an easy and immediate decision for me… I wrote about my Father.

Since that first year of college…I’ve met five Presidents, two Vice-Presidents, numerous Generals, Admirals, sports stars, singers, international ministry leaders and assorted other celebrities and persons in authority.

If I were asked to write the same paper during this the 25th anniversary of my 39th birthday year…I would still write about my father…for whom I will always call Daddy, so why change.

He was and still is the greatest man I’ve ever met.

My purpose in this blog is not just to write something sentimental about my father but there are several things that “Mr. Harold,” as Dad was known in our town, taught me…that will benefit and bless all who read these words. READ MORE 

Man of Few Words

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“Love is shown in your deeds, not in your words.”

—Fr. Jerome Cummings

Today’s story is from Mark Victor Hansen.

As co-author of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series, I’ve had ample opportunity to write about my father. Oddly enough, though, I never have. I guess that makes me a man of few words, at least in this respect.

My name is Mark Victor Hansen. This is my story untold — a look back at my dad, and how I came to know him 20 years after he passed.

“Men of few words are the best men.” —Shakespeare
Man of few words

Mark and his dad, ready to ride.

He was a Danish immigrant. No academics. Broken English.

A man of few words. That was my dad. He worked as a baker through the Depression, earning pennies a day. He survived on leftover bread. Tireless work ethic. Simple principles. Just survive each day.

I was born in ’48. My three younger brothers soon followed. “The four boys,” he often said.

Throughout my childhood, Dad was consistent, stoic, as well. He never waivered, and seemed immune to self-doubt. While deeply caring as a man and a dad, he seemed unable to communicate how he felt. He would order the “what” without explaining the “why”. READ MORE