To a father, when a child dies, the future dies; to a child when a parent dies, the past dies.
Interpretation
The loss of a child brings an end to a parent's hopes for the future, while the loss of a parent means a child has lost their connection to the past.
This poignant quote reflects the profound emotional impact of losing a family member, illustrating how such losses affect different generations. For a father, the death of a child symbolizes the shattering of dreams and aspirations for what the child's life could have been in the future. Conversely, for a child, the death of a parent signifies the end of a link to their personal history and the memories that shape their identity. Together, these experiences highlight the deep connections we have within families and the devastating nature of loss.
In practice
During a speech at a memorial service, this quote could evoke deep emotions about the fragility of family bonds.
To be a successful coach you should be and look prepared. You must be a man of integrity. Never break your word. Don't have two sets of standards. Remember you don't handle players-you handle pets. You deal with players. Stand up for your players. Show them you care-on and off the court. Very important-it's not 'how' or 'what' you say but what they absorb.
If you want to be a Champion, you've got to feel like one, you've got to act like one, you've got to look like one.
I don't believe in statistics. There are too many factors that can't be measured. You can't measure a ballplayer's heart.
I never took a position we were going to be a good ball club. I took the position we were going to be a winning ball club.
They said you have to use your five best players but I found you win with the five who fit together the best.
It's not what you tell your players that counts. It's what they hear.
Some parents let their kids sleep at other people's houses, where they drink alcohol, watch TV for hours and God knows what else. But if you say you have to get all A's and practice the violin for two hours, then they consider that abusive. That upsets me.
I was ravenous for my child and took to gorging myself in the boneyard, hoping that she might possibly meet me halfway, or just beyond, one night, if only for an instant—step back into her own bare feet, onto the wet grass or fallen leaves or snowy ground of the living Enon, so that we could share just one last human word.
My father was the quintessential husband and dad.
What it means to be human is to bring up your children in safety, educate them, keep them healthy, teach them how to care for themselves and others, allow them to develop in their own way among adults who are sane and responsibile, who know the value of the world and not its economic potential. It means art, it means time, it means all the invisibles never counted by the GDP and the census figures. It means knowing that life has an inside as well as an outside. And I think it means love.
The Black family of the future will foster our liberation, enhance our self-esteem, and shape our ideas and goals.
I think you are who you are, and your kids will see who you are. So you'd better be a good person, because they are going to see it, and that's going to shape them. They are going to become you.
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