Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.
I would have never guessed that I would one day write about my father, leave alone blog about it, well I guess this is one of those things I do now that I am a blogger š Lessons I learned from my Dad, well where can I start, my Dad (father of two) is a senior executive at a Bank in India, he is almost 60, going to retire this year. He has been working for over 30 years at the same bank, where he started of a as an Bank Officer. My father is man of few words, I mean that literally, he is an introvert and a strong man. All my friends love him because he doesn’tĀ interrogate them when they are kicking it at my house like the other dads. He has been an inspiration to me all my life and still is, I have always looked up to him in every aspect of my life. If only I would be half the man he is, I would consider myself to be lucky. Well any kid would say that about their dad I am sure, but let me tell you why I think my dad is the best thing that ever happened to me, and he is the only reason apart from my mother, that I am the man I am now.
My father is man of few words, I mean that literally, he is an introvert and a strong man. All my friends love him because he doesn’tĀ interrogate them when they are kicking it at my house like the other dads. He has been an inspiration to me all my life and still is, I have always looked up to him in every aspect of my life. If only I would be half the man he is, I would consider myself to be lucky. Well any kid would say that about their dad I am sure, but let me tell you why I think my dad is the best thing that ever happened to me, and he is the only reason apart from my mother, that I am the man I am now.
My farther has always supported me and provided for me even if my wants were beyond his means, which was quite often when I was younger. He encouraged me to travel to England for my Bachelor’s, paid for all my tuition and living expenses, followed by which he agreed to pay for my Master’s at Cal State, that’s a lot of money, but he never hesitated for a second. Apart from supporting me financially he believed in me, when no one else did, well there is a valid reason for that, I was a bad student all the way up to high school. It was not that I was dumb but just not interested, and my priorities were all messed up.
So now that you know, why family and friends thought it was a waste of money to send me to England for my undergrad. But my father did see potential in me and believe that give theĀ opportunity I would one day rise to become a better man. I believe I did, graduated my Undergrad, pursued my Master’s at Cal State and I am now working for IBM. Well if not for my father I would still be in India wasting my time and his money doing things I should not be doing, Thank you Dad!
The lessons I have learned from my Dad:
- Family Values – My dad has always taught me the importance of family and that family always comes first. My sister and I have similar values when it comes to family, he took care of my grandparents (his parents) when they needed him. My grandparents lived with us happy until the end (RIP in peace)
- Working hard – My father has been working for the same bank for over thirty years, and this will be his last year as he is almost 60. Through out all those years, I have never seen him nag or complain about work how hard it is. This isĀ ingrainedĀ in my head. Work hard and you will be succeed
- Be a Good Human Being –Ā In today’s multicultural society where one’s religion, beliefs and values are one’s own. I have learned that no matter what religion, culture or background one comes from, all that matters is he/she should be kind and a caring person to earn my respect.
Cheers
LandedYesterday Team!
Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.
