Column encourages parents to praise children

Editor:

This is a rave for Barry Paschal, proud dad and just a nice person to know, for his Feb. 26 column, Turning loose is hard to do (http://newstimesonline.com/stories/022603/opi_opinion_022503_1611_3.shtml).

I, too, had a father who was incredibly proud of me as a child, youth and adult and I know this because he told me so whenever he had a chance, although he didnt have such a public venue. I would like to think and hope from reading Paschals columns week after week, with the number of times he sings accolades of his children, that some fathers (and mothers) out there will see the light of how important it is to not just feel this way about your children but to say it.

This world sometimes forgets how important the words are, and as Paschal so wonderfully memorializes his friends and family it is obvious that he never lets things go unsaid. Those people may no longer be with him, but they knew at their departure his love for them. And even if she is a little embarrassed by it now, I know that each of his daughters in their adulthood will appreciate truly knowing how he feels.

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Thanks. Good mentors are hard to find.

Cherie Lee Portinga

Evans