A Faithful Father

My husband kissed me goodbye，stroked the baby's cheek and then rushed out of the door，into his busy day．With the cold of the morning fading，I fed my baby and it fell fast asleep．Usually I would place it in bed and quickly have the house somewhat in（31）___．

This morning，however，I stayed seated，just（32）___，with the baby in my arms．The thoughts ran into（33）___ of the mornings with my husband，a father rushing out of the door to meet the obligations of life．It was only a small jump to thoughts of my own（34）___．

My mother passed away when I was ten，and as I looked（35）___，I could see how much of a family man my dad was．He went to work every morning and（36）___ to his family every evening．He（37）___ food，clothing，warmth，and protection．He was a faithful father．

Setting the baby down，I dialed the（38）___ number．I had just realized the（39）___ of the ordinary-the daily life going on around us that we often took for granted，and that it needed to be（40）___．

"Hi，Dad．"I said，（41）___ back tears．

"Hey，Bud．How are you？"（42）___ was in his voice．

"Fine，I'm just calling to say…thank you．"I got it out before my throat（43）___ too much for me to speak．

"What for？"

"For getting up and going to work every morning of my life．Now that I have my own

（44）___ and I see my husband doing the same，I just wanted to thank you for being（45）___．"

There was（46）___ for a moment as my dad composed himself，and with a small（47）___ in his voice he said，"You're welcome，Bud．"

I don't remember much of the rest of the call，（48）___ that moment of revelation （显露） about my father，I will never forget．There are those who are known for their heroic（49）___，and also those who are known for their fortunes and fame，but it is the（50）___ everyday fathers who are the true heroes．I'm thankful that my father was one of them．