My Dad Will Always Be My "Family Hero" - My Tribute to Him

When my father passed away, we brought him back to Chicago to rest next to my mother as we had promised him when we brought him to California. Before the service, my brother and I met with the Cantor who would be doing the graveside service and he asked us to tell him stories about our Dad. It was comforting and healing for my brother and I to share our memories of him

At the service the Cantor talked about how our Dad was a hero, an everyday family hero, which surprised the attending extended family, as we all think that word is applied much too loosely these days. But as he talked about how Dad lived his life to take care of his family and what he did for us, we all did realize that Dad was a hero to our family.

This was later brought home vividly to me as I sat watching the SAG-AFTRA screening of "Fences." I was struck by how different the father Denzel Washington portrayed was from my father. And how grateful I was for the Dad I had and the man he was. And for that gratitude, I wrote and performed this tribute for Father's Day 2021. On my monologues page here, you can view my "Family Hero" monologue for our Father's Day NeoFest, which I performed on 6-18-2021 and 6-19-2021 with Neo Ensemble Theatre LA.