What my father taught me

Dads help shape us, and four contributors to the radio series This I Believe describe how

Honoring a father's influence in the shape of a life on this Father's Day.
(Image credit: CORBIS)

My father’s hands

When I think of my father, I remember his hands. Liver-spotted and dexterous, hands that tied flies and built wooden toys for children at Christmas. Those hands that palmed my chest and stomach when I learned to swim now cannot break free of the bed rails—or of the esophageal cancer that slowly strangles him.

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