June 17th is Father’s Day here in Ireland as well as in the US and I have been thinking about the important lessons my father taught me over his long life of ninety-one years. He died in September 2010 but those lessons are well ingrained.
# 1. Laughter is the the best medicine. Dad certainly knew how to laugh and surrounded himself with books of humour and wit.
# 2. The dictionary is one of the most useful books ever written, use it!
# 3. If you get one good photograph on a photographic expedition, you’re doing well
# 4. Regrets are often the hardest things to live with.
# 5. Never sit on wet grass unless you want to get pneumonia.
# 6. Aithníonn ciaróg ciaróg eile. (Irish saying : One beetle recognises another beetle). In other words: ‘ It takes one to know one.’
# 7. If you watch the ball, you won’t go too far wrong in any ball game.
# 8. Trusting each other within the family will get you through more than you could ever imagine.
# 9. Never forget the importance of a smile.
# 10. You’ll find it hard to discover a more beautiful place in the world than Co. Clare on the West Coast of Ireland
