Tribute to My Father
Malinee Ganahl
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One
winter day in 1993, I received a disturbing message on my answering
machine. My brother’s voice ended its
chit-chat with, “By the way, someone bombed Dad’s building.” See, my father worked in the World Trade Center in New York City, where a car bomb had exploded
earlier that day. But he was okay. He hadn’t been in the building when the
explosion occurred. He was down the
street—at Church attending Mass during his lunch hour.
Today I’m going to tell you
about a quiet man of strong character—my father, Manoon
Chuaprasert.
When I was growing up, my father never gave lectures. Yet, he still managed to teach us his lessons
and instill his values upon my brothers and me.
As the writer Clarence Budington Kelland once said of his father, “He didn’t tell me how to
live; he lived and let me watch him do it.”
In the craziness of today’s world, it’s good to know that there is a man
like my father out there.
I’ve had the honor of being my father’s
daughter for 30 years, and his influence on my life is invaluable. Three things about my dad that helped shaped
my life are his dedication to his family, his dependability, and his
spirituality.
First, let me tell you about my
dad’s dedication to our family.
Throughout his life, my father has made family a priority. This starts with his devotion to his mother
who still lives in Thailand. Without fail, he sends money to her every
month. He has been doing this since he
moved to the United States over 35 years ago. Even during the early years when he could
barely support himself and my mother, he always filled his obligation as the
eldest son to take care of his mother.
Dad had more vices in his
younger days. He gave up many bad habits
to set a good example for his kids. He
quit smoking when my eldest brother was born.
He quit drinking when I was very young.
My father also gave up his long time hobby of betting on horse races.
In addition to his devotion to family, my father
was always very dependable. Dad is steady and reliable. He had some simple,
little routines that are snapshots of his reliability. For example, after dinner every evening, he
would peel fruit for us as dessert.
Typically, this would be an orange, apple, or pear. Also, each night, Dad would iron a shirt for
work the next day. My brother aptly describes my parents: “Mom is the fire, Dad is the rock.” My father doesn’t get very emotional, but he
doesn’t give in either. He has always
been solid and steady.
My father is a very spiritual
man. Church and religious life are very
important to him. He always made sure
that the whole family attended Mass on Sundays.
He himself attends Mass every day.
To be honest, I don’t know when he started this. But it’s a routine that kept him safe from
the explosion in 1993. My father is also
an active member of our Church parish.
He sings in the choir and volunteers as a Eucharistic minister.
More than going through the
“right” motions in Church, my father has the strongest moral character of
anyone I know. He never speaks ill of
anyone. He approaches everything with
honesty and integrity. He is very
generous and shares what he has. Most
importantly, he lives by his beliefs.
Many people claim to have certain values, but then they break their own
rules. Not my dad. I’ve never seen his actions contradict his
beliefs.
My father describes faith as a
beautifully wrapped present that God holds out to you. It is up to you to accept the gift, open it
up, take what’s inside, and use it.
My father’s dedication to
family, his dependability, and his spirituality are traits that have shaped my
life. These are values I have absorbed
myself, and will always carry with me. I
hope that I am able to open the beautiful packages from my father and use these
gifts as graciously as he does.