He was a big guy, towering over us. He was intimidating, both for his deft use of snark when faced with obnoxious children, and his frequent recourse to a paddle when the snark didn’t hit home. He didn’t hesitate to shame his favorites when he felt they weren’t living up to their potential. Blatant disobedience led to public humiliation and occasionally a smack to the head with whatever he could fling across the room.
He was also supportive, open minded, generous in praise, and always looking for the promising things he could bring out in his kids.
Seeing it written out, I realize now that —in my odd way— I’ve spent most of my life struggling to be as much like him as possible.