I remember these words as if they were spoken yesterday, only in french, by my dad. “Prendre la responsabilite de vos actions.”  Seems like such a simple phrase doesn’t it? Good, bad or indifferent, if you were moved to act, be prepared to accept the end result, whatever it may be.

                    Joseph Lafrance

Granted, as a teenager, the advice didn’t really stick until I became a man, or so I thought, when I turned eighteen. The path chosen to learn this valuable lesson came at the expense of my pride and my father’s wisdom and courage.  Although I was a well-behaved young man who thought of my mom as a saint, I disrespected her once with a few choice words.  Never again.  When dad came home he called me on my actions and being taller, heavier and a bit arrogant, decided to “dis” him too.  Never again. In an instant, I wasn’t so tall, that big and certainly no longer arrogant.

 

Mr. Lafrance was a few inches shorter and twenty pounds lighter than me.  None of that mattered when he put a forearm to my chest, pinned me to the wall and up off my feet.  He then calmly asked me to repeat myself, at which time I apologized, to which his response was  “ne pas manquer de respect a nouveau votre mere”,  don’t disrespect your mother again. What did I learn in that moment? Don’t take on a man who lifted hundreds of pounds 7 hours each day at work. Seriously. He taught me to stand-up for family and to have the wisdom to know when and how to handle a difficult situation, as well as the courage to take action.

My dad was a loud talker and never laid a hand on me.  Sometimes I would ask him to smack me so he’d stop yelling :>} Needless to say the life lessons learned from watching how hard he worked raising seven of us will never leave me.  I do my best to impart his examples as much as possible with my family now.  One of my favorite actors, Michael Keaton, said it best at the 2015 Golden Globes.

http://time.com/3663303/golden-globes-2015-michael-keaton-birdman-speech/

Father’s Day is a good time to remember how important we as parents, in this case dads, are to our children. We mentor them, teach them, guide them, encourage them (hopefully) and, at some point, let them fly.  My family turned out well and speaking from my vantage point, have my parental units to thank for helping steer this stubborn teenager into a passionate adult. If anyone were to ask me to share the most valuable lesson learned from my childhood, hands-down it is –  “Take responsibility for your actions.”

Thanks Dad!