I have two sets of emotions every Father’s Day.  First, I reflect on how fortunate I am to have two wonderful daughters, Allison and Mary.  There is no dad anywhere that could be more proud of his daughters than I.

But I also remember that on the first Father’s Day when I was a dad, my father had died the February before.  I was a proud father of my twin girls that day, but I very much missed my own dad.

I don’t think about my dad just on Father’s Day, I think about him every single day.  Time does heal the pain, but I still miss him.

His real name was Martin Bernard Lannan, but everyone he knew called him Bernie. If someone called him Martin, that meant the person calling him by that name did not know him at all.

I cannot summarize in a few words what my dad taught me.  The most important principles he gave me and all my siblings were rooted in telling the truth and doing that right thing.

I learned from him all about volunteering your time for the betterment of your community.  Dad served on the board of directors of what is now Financial Center First Credit Union.  He was never paid for serving on that board most of his adult life, but he found it important to serve people working where he did, which was a group of federal workers served in the early days of that credit union, before the pool of members began to increase with changes in the law.

This blog I write and the podcasts I produce are volunteer activities for me.  My dad taught me how important it is to give something back to your local community.

My dad has been gone for 24 years, but he left so much behind.  He left a legacy for me, Tom, Barbara, Diane, Tony and Tim.  Dad taught us how to be good people.  A lesson none of us will ever forget.