So I am grateful for this complicated man who is my father, Thomas W. Meredith, Jr. I’m not “Thomas W. Meredith, III,” because my “W” is different from my father’s “W.” Nonetheless, we are both Thomas W. Meredith, and the older I get the more I realize that a good deal of who and what I am comes from him.
Dad is a person who introduced me to sports and who instilled the life-long love for golf and basketball that is with me to this day. He taught me to play, but more than that, I now realize that it was his passion for, and appreciation of, both of these games that impacted me the most. Dad is a person who dedicated himself to these games, working incessantly on perfecting the golf swing, or, in basketball, going the extra mile to become a better, more informed coach. The drive to be this way emanated from Dad’s inner nature, and I am grateful that that inner nature has been passed along to me, both through biology and through experience.
Dad is also a person who is capable of deep feeling, though this becomes visible only on occasion, and if you blink, you just might miss it. I have been immensely grateful for the handful or two of occasions when I got a glimpse into his mind and his heart, as I was able to see that there is both a lot of caring and a lot of pain present in there.
I can remember one time in particular, sitting outside the Warwick HS gym before a PIAA state tournament basketball game, when Dad and I sat in his car and talked. Dad shared with me that he knew that I had, and often have, a tough go of it in life, because I have the kind of mind that never rests, which asks incessant questions, and which has a tendency to obsess. (Of course, that is 100% correct.) He went further, though, sharing about his own experiences of this nature and describing how he deliberately attempted to set this aside and focus his attention on practical matters, which has been his approach to life. (I could understand this, but I have never found myself able, or willing, to take the same approach.) He then went even further to say something close to this: “You know, I realize that you got a lot of my difficult qualities but in a much more heightened way. I’m sorry about that.” Writing this now, and in hindsight, I could see how this statement could be interpreted in a negative sense; for me, however, it was a moment of recognition and connection, as I do have many of Dad’s so-called negative qualities, and these qualities make life a challenge for me. As with most challenges, however, it is nice to know that you are are not alone in them.
There is, of course, more that could be said here, but for now I want to say that I am truly thankful for my father and for the person that he is, as well as for the person that he has been to me in my life’s journey. I love you, Dad, and want you to know that I am grateful for you and that I always like to get your phone calls, even when I don’t always answer them.
10th Leper Gratitude 