I was thinking today about the fact that father's day is coming up, and while I don't have a father any more [at least not here on earth] he was always an inspiration to me. So I wanted to talk for a minute about him, and about a few other dads who have inspired me.
How dull life would be if there were not other people to inspire us to dream big, to pursue goals, to be our best selves.
My dad grew up in poverty, the son of a man who didn't make it past the 6th grade and could barely read, but all 3 of his sons went to college, and two of them got master's degrees. My dad was always adamant that my brother and I get good educations, because for him, it was so hard. He told me stories of all the jobs he had to take on just to pay his own way thru college, because he couldn't utilize the GI bill like his brothers. One job was sleeping overnight in a funeral home in Athens, because nobody wanted that job and it didn't bother Dad.
Dad was a wonderful and gifted storyteller, and his love of stories inspired me to want to write. Dad was a great raconteur but he wasn't gifted at writing down his stories.
When I was just out of school and I started working, Dad inspired me in a lot of ways, but primarily with his work ethic. My dad had his faults but nobody ever said Tony Thompson didn't work hard. He worked hard all day at the bank, then came home and worked around the house. We always had lush, verdant gardens and beautiful yards.
I used to wonder why he worked so hard. Now that I have a yard and gardens I understand that yearning to go outside and dig in the dirt, to do something real and see tangible results - the antidote to shuffling papers and corporate BS all day.

LEWIS
Another dad figure who inspired me was my uncle, Lewis Thompson. He was a wonderful artist and his paintings are all over our house, all of them treasured. Lewis started to throw away some oil paintings he did in college, many years ago, and Dad said no, we want them.
Lewis was a character, but everyone who knew him loved him. He was very tall and skinny, but Lewis was a superb athlete, and excelled at tennis and golf. He taught art for more than 35 years at Hollins College.He drew the cover illustration for the Hollins Critic from 1964 until his death in 2002.
When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an artist. Lewis inspired me to draw and paint and be creative.I wanted to learn about art because I wanted to understand him better.
Lewis also inspired me to write. He used to take trips and write these long, funny accounts of his trips. I still have many of those. He was not a writer, but he painstakingly typed them out on a typewriter.He would make copies and mail them to his brothers, and we always loved reading about his trips. Mother complained after the first one that he didn't talk about food enough, so thereafter he included many details about his dining experiences, even if it was to merely say "Shoney's has a good breakfast bar," or some such thing. Most of his comments were really droll, like "The veal was edible only because we had a lot of whiskey."
His dry wit shone through every page of his trip journals. I will never forget a memorable river trip down the Colorado, which Lewis undertook in his 60's, without his wife or friends, just for fun. His wife was a gourmet cook, so he was used to fine food. The touring group he was with didn't have any gourmets cooking over the fire. The first day, after paddling down the Colorado river all day, the dinner was pita bread filled with something. Lewis hated it. Thereafter, when talking about the meals they ate at the end of each day he would say "The HATED pita bread appeared!" That still makes me laugh.
Me, Dad, and Lewis about 1990.
PAPA
Another huge inspiration to me was my grandfather, Bob Hasty. He was one of the most gentle, loving men I've ever known. He was a wonderful father to my mom and her two brothers.He also raised many of his nephews, or had them over for extended visits [like all summer].
He was a father figure to me throughout my early childhood. Unlike my dad, Papaw was quiet and slow-moving and gentle. I spent many happy hours sitting in his lap while he read me bible stories, or Swiss Family Robinson, or Heidi.
Papa inspired me to be a good girl. He never threatened me with punishment. I just never wanted to see a look of disappointment on his face if I misbehaved.
Papaw gave me my love of cakes. After he retired, he decided he wanted to learn to make cakes, because he loved them so much. He was an engineer at heart, and his pound cakes were measured precisely, and they were works of art. He would put on a big apron, and tie a smaller version of his apron on me, and I would sit in the kitchen and watch him, fascinated. I'd always get to lick the bowl and the beaters. Those are very happy memories for me.
Around 1995 I started researching my grandfather's life and he inspired a screenplay I wrote about his baseball career. I fictionalized the couple in the screenplay because I didn't know all the facts surrounding why he left major league baseball in 1925. Through the research, I gained a great understanding of him as a man, and the struggles he had gone through in his life. Most of my research was talking to my mother, who has an amazing memory, and I got a wonderful long, handwritten letter from my uncle Bobby Hasty, telling me what he could recall.I also researched baseball of the 1920's, Pacific Coast baseball, and many other topics. It was a fascinating experience.
My grandparents lived through the Depression of the 1930's like so many others, learning to be frugal and careful, and to "use it up and wear it out." We still have two of the flour sack aprons my grandmother sewed.
My grandfather was a baseball player, a businessman, and worked at Foremost Dairies and Lockheed, and did many other things to support his family, including farming.
Papaw inspired me to be gentle and sweet, and to love generously.
Me and Bruce with Papaw and Mamaw, about 1965.
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Even though my children don't have a "father" per se, they have men who have reached out to them with love and kindness, and taught them things I never could - teachers, coaches, others. My children also have been "fathered" by Uncle Bruce, and they adore my brother.
My son is one of the sweetest people I know, and I know one day he will make a wonderful father.
To all of you, I hope you have a happy Father's Day weekend!
Dad and two of our dogs, early 90's.
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