[Yorkiemom1]

My father was a wonderful provider for his family. He was honest to a fault, and instilled in us an unshakable resolution that your Name was the most valuable thing you had in your possession, that your value and worth as a human being was based on your integrity and sense of ethics, and you NEVER compromised your integrity or ethics for anything or for any reason. When he learned he had lung cancer, he began to write and record...he wanted his guidance and thoughts and philosphy on all areas of life, recorded and documented for us, as a guide into our future when he would not be there to advise and guide us. He never played with us as children....I can count on one hand, the five interactions my father had with me that were just fun, father - daughter things, and not a detailed outline or discussion or lecture on some life lesson or principal he was determined to instill in us to make us productive, valuable, honorable citizens of this country....he taught us to research and question and get evidenced based, proven results from any research or theory or hypothesis we were trying to understand. He was a sheer genius, and never forgot anything he ever learned in school....I remember having a complicated question that involved chemistry and physics and metabolic balance when I worked in DeBakeys Fondren Intensive Care Unit at Methodist...none of the surgeons and not even the anesthesiologist could answer the question, and they were getting frustrated with my insistance we needed to explore this idea as a possible way to resolve an issue we were facing with a patient. I got on the phone and called my father in Algeria where he was working, and he gave me the answer to my question, and then gave me the formula to prove the answer he had arrived at.....I will never forget that, and needless to say, he made a name for himself in that unit, with those docs, after that phone call! I am my fathers daughter, I am every bit as stubborn as he was, and once I have irrefutable proof that I am right, I will never be moved from that position. I will beat a principle to death.....and will not back up if I am right! My father and I were two immovable forces that, when we ran head long into each other, we argued and debated and fought with unrelenting conviction......he always won, but he won because he took the time to actually PROVE to me beyond any doubt, why his approach was correct and mine was flawed or outright wrong! I loved my father, and owe everything I think, do, or say, to him. I am sorry for the long report on my father...but I could not just say he didnt fool with us as kids and we fought like cats and dogs! "You have to be able to look in the mirror and say honestly, you have done no other living human being harm, especially in order to benefit your self in any way." Words I live by. I love you daddy......