A Father’s Influence

I answered the phone at my desk.

“Hello?”

“This is the last time I’m going to read this to you.”  I immediately recognized my father’s voice, who offered no salutation.

“I had to read this to you over and over and over again,” he continued.  “’I will not eat it in a box, I will not eat it with a fox. I will not eat green eggs and ham.  I will not eat it, Sam I Am.’”

“Oka-a-y,” I responded, somewhat hesitantly, wondering where this was going.  I glanced around the busy law office, processing this surreal moment of having my father read a childhood book to me.

“Dr. Seuss recently died,” he said, “and I’m reading a column in today’s San Francisco Chronicle paying tribute to him.  I was thinking about how many times I had to read his books to you over and over again.  So, I’m just letting you know, that this is the last time I’m reading this to you.” 

Laughing, I thought, “That’s my dad.”