Happy Father’s Day! Oprah celebrates her dad—and his enduring guidance—in a video taped at her childhood home.
Every week, Oprah is setting an intention exclusively for Oprah Daily Insiders, with reflections on topics like letting go, forgiveness, coming into your own, and more. Come back to this page each day for inspiration related to this week’s theme: a father’s wisdom.
Father's Day greetings and acknowledgments to you all.
It's a common bond that we all share that we all have fathers. I'm back in Nashville to visit my dad. This is the house where I spent most of my teen years, here on Arrington Street, with him and my stepmother. When I finally made enough money to buy them a better home, I did, but all the best memories come from this little space.
My father was strict, he was disciplined, always afraid that I was gonna stray from the path of righteousness he was trying to lay before me. We went to church every Sunday, read out loud from the Bible regularly, and he used to tell me stories and parables all the time. One of my favorites was:
[There are] two dogs sitting by the railroad track, train comes along, clips off a piece of the younger one's tail. He starts yelping and screaming and running around in a circle, and the older dog turns to him and says, "Woof, woof, be cool. Don't go losing your head over a little piece of tail."
Every time I would get a crush on some boy who wasn't crushing me back my dad would say, "Did I ever tell you the story about the two dogs?" Yeah, Dad, I know; don't lose your head over a little piece of tail. It's come in pretty handy over the years. He knew what I needed at the time, and certainly if it were not for him, I doubt that anybody in the world would know my name. So today I salute my father, Vernon Winfrey, and all the fathers who've done the best they knew at the time to give you, me, us, the guidance and support they were capable of. I know firsthand how the trajectory of life can change by the positive influence of a good father.
So, Insiders, I encourage you to express appreciation to the father figures in your life, today and every day, with a kind act or a silent loving prayer, whether they are here with us or angels watching over. I'd love to read your Father's Day comments below.
Happy Father's Day to everybody.
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