Obama devoted much of the Friday before Fathers Day to talk about importance of parenting

I hope we can all be inspired by Obama’s message about the importance of dads in the lives of their kids. Some men take their own personal experience and triumph over adversity as an example of how all kids should pull themselves up despite the lack of the same advantages most of us take for granted. I like the fact that Obama speaks plainly about how the pain of going without a present father and that he was lucky to overcome it.   

Obama says prime goal was ‘to be a good father’
President tells East Room audience of his absent dad’s impact

“I decided that if I could be one thing in life, it would be to be a good father,” he told a White House audience, after saying that his father’s decision to walk away from his family had left “a hole in a child’s heart” that couldn’t be filled.

Obama spoke after five men, including a former addict from Baltimore, described their own struggles. The president said there was “no rule that says that you have to repeat your father’s mistakes.”

Adults who were deserted by a parent “have an obligation to break the cycle” and “do better than they did, with your own children,” he said.

[From Obama says prime goal was ‘to be a good father’ – baltimoresun.com]

Stories like his are often used to teach us a moral lesson that adversity creates greatness. I tend to think greatness evolves despite adversity. While Horatio Alger stories always make better news stories, most people who are “successful” come from homes with supportive, loving and involved parents.