The wisdom my 77-year-old father has passed on to me came more through osmosis(潜移)than lectures．My dad's 1 shines through all．my life．
Old age hasn't 2 him, mainly because he doesn't think almost-80 is old．He had ever trained for a charity 3 across the Hudson River in New York．He wore his custom? fitted diving suit, but he still got so 4 We warmed him and wrapped him in a sleeping bag．"Oh, 5 ．it isn't that bad, " he'd say, "I am fine．" He always is．He did 6 the Hudson swim a month later．
If you ask my father whether or not his life has been hard, he will styhe is 7 ．He means the kind of happiness that comes from 8 a well-cooked family meal, taking a good long run or growing a perfect tomato．．Did I mention that he used to nm marathons before his knee replacement surgery? He's the only one 9 convinced me I could do it, too．"Anyone can run a marathon, " he said, " 10 you keep training"．
My father was born in 1933．His childhood took a 11 at the beginning of World War It．His father j6ined the French Army and was 12 by the Germans and spent the war in a prison camp．My dad and his mother and sister were shipped off to New Jersey to live with relatives．His mother 13 depression, and Dad went to a boarding school in New England from the sixth grade on．Yet in all Dad's dinner table 14 , there have been many times when he turned them into 15 stories．
After a family dinner the other night, my father advised us to try the skydiving 16 "Sixty-five seconds of free falling, " he said．"I 17 it．I should have been a paratiooper(伞兵)"!
He loves getting cards in the mail, and usually I'm 18 , so instead I call him on Father Day．But this year I've 19 to be early for once．’I want to let him know how much he 20 to me．
Dad, thank you-for all of it and mostly for your long faith that everything will be OK．
