Slice of Life #3: Weekend lesson learned from dad

Slice of Life #3

Saturday morning means a great cup of coffee and a novel to relax with. No alarm clocks. Little morning television. Some family conversation. Another cup of coffee. Little later finally getting to breakfast. Planning the day: getting to see my extended family. Nieces, nephew, great-niece and great-nephew.  Lunch at Ikea with fun people. Maybe even little shopping. Definitely not a bad start for weekend.
But what about some of the past weekends? I was reading a post about grandfather this morning, and it reminded me about my family members that have passed. It reminded me about my father who always used to read the newspaper on the kitchen counter each morning. When I was really young, I would sit on his lap and just enjoy being with him. Little later, I would share the newspaper with him. He would read the real news, and I would read the comics. After he passed away, it would be my mother who would read the newspaper first, and then I would read it later in the morning.
I believe that these experiences with the newspaper have shaped my life. I still love reading the news. Now it is mostly on the Internet. I even assign weekly articles (learned from Kelly Gallagher) to my students. So, in my class, we regularly discuss current events, reflect on world events, analyze how past events would be different with today's technological advances, and make predictions about events that could happen in the near future based on what we know about the past.
I don't think that my father had any idea what he started by holding me on his lap while he was reading the newspaper. Thank you dad!!