Community Corner

A Father's Road Map for Life

Daughters make their own paths with directions from dad.

The summer I was 17 our family set out cross country in a Winnebago camper we bought secondhand from a science teacher at Livingston High School.

Our six-week adventure would take us to such national oddities as the Corn Palace in South Dakota and a country radio broadcast with Conway Twitty, to natural treasures like Yellowstone National Park, with a layover in Davenport, Iowa, for a quick fix of something in the engine that went wrong after a month on the road.

It was an amazing trip, but even more so since my sisters’ nickname for our Dad is “Wrong Way Wally.”  The summer of ‘77 he managed to steer us West to the Pacific and back home again.

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On this Father’s Day – with a surprise visit from one of my sisters who settled out West in a town near Livingston, Montana – I’m once again reminded of the lessons from my father to be ready to explore wherever the road might lead.

That doesn't mean, like our Dad behind the wheel, that we've never gotten lost along the way. But the road map he has given each of his four daughters steers us to discover what it is we want for ourselves and for our lives.

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Thank you Dad. Happy Father’s Day.


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