What to give my dad on Father's Day?

Dear Editor:

Tomorrow is Father's Day. I can't decide what to give my dad -- gift certificates from Kentucky Fried Chicken have been my "go to gift" in the past.

My mom likes cards more than gifts, but those of you who have had me in class know that my writing is horrible so I decided to "pen" this on my laptop.

My dad is a hero to me for a lot of reasons. When I was 9 or 10, I rode my bike to Nevada High School. I was sitting out front on what are today the flower beds as you enter the Hickory Street side of the school. Back then, in the early 1970's, these beds held white sparkly rocks. I was bored and was taking the rocks -- one by one -- out of the flower bed and tossing them on the ground. Longtime maintenance director Jack Neas saw me doing this and came up to me and appropriately told me to "knock that off."

I said with a child's innocence back to Mr. Neas, "it's OK mister, my dad owns this school."

As I grew, I began to admire him for more legitimate reasons. John McKinley never traded or compromised an old friend for a new one. He never believed in positioning himself or adjusting the facts to suit his situation. He did not stick his finger in the air to test the political winds before taking a stand.

John McKinley is now 80 and soon to turn 81. My mom, Diane, is 79 and her health has been failing for some time -- she requires a lot of daily care and my dad does it quietly. He fixes all the meals, does all laundry and, as you can imagine, his golf time has taken a hit -- although you would never hear him say that.

He cares for her daily with a loving heart.

For those of you who do not know my dad, John McKinley was an accomplished educator for 38 years -- 33 at Nevada High School -- he was a guidance counselor and football coach. If you are a graduate of Nevada High School the chances are he either counseled you, your parents or maybe even your grandparents (if you are long time Nevadans). But his teaching went far beyond 800 W. Hickory. Let me give you some examples from my childhood ....

I grew up on the west end of Nevada in a home with three bedrooms and one bathroom. What is amazing is that our household, when I was young, had four women, including mom, (three teenage girls at one time), two sons, and dad. Bathroom time was competitive -- and sometimes cherished as you are about to learn.

Amidst the smell of menthol shaving cream and Aqua Velva after-shave, I use to sit in our little bathroom on North Prewitt Street and watch my dad shave. While shaving, he would tell me fictional stories about a cast of characters he created -- George and his mother and his crippled little brother. As he made these stories up each time, they always centered around a theme of honor and courage and doing what is right. George was the hero who invariably was placed in situations designed to reveal his character. They were great fun to listen to, but as I look back I know now they held a higher purpose.

I am ashamed to say that as a teacher I am not very well-read. In college I had to read parts of 1,000 or more books as a history major, plus a great number of texts -- that kind of burned me out. Due to my fascination with the Civil Rights Movement as a history and sociology teacher, I did decide a little while back (and for the first time in my life) to read a book by Harper Lee titled, "To Kill A Mockingbird." As you may know, the central figure in the book is a lawyer, and more importantly a father, named Atticus Finch.

I became such a fan of both the book and the movie. I am not alone as the American Film Institute a few years back selected Atticus Finch of "To Kill A Mockingbird" as the greatest hero of all time in American movies -- greater than all the heroes from the westerns -- the war movies -- all films.

In addition to my Dad's 33 years at Nevada High School, I have just completed my 25th year at the same school. In my classroom behind my desk a large framed black and white picture of Atticus Finch hangs on my wall and from my podium is a quote from "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee:

"The one thing that does not abide by majority rule is a man's conscience."

I did not learn to follow my conscience as a young man from Harper Lee or any other author, poet or historical figure. I learned it amongst the smell of menthol shaving cream and Aqua Velva sitting in a bathroom watching my dad shave in our home on North Prewitt Street.

Somehow, Kentucky Fried Gift certificates just don't seem appropriate.

Kevin McKinley

Nevada