Do It Now

I had wanted to post this for Father's Day, but obviously I am a little late...forgive me! Ted is a wonderful man, husband, and father, and I hope he knows how much we appreciate him as we try to tell him often! Here is a poem that I found and wanted to share to encourage us to tell our husbands and fathers more often how much we love them. Our society tends to devalue men's importance, especially as fathers, and most men desperately need to hear our encouragement.

Do It Now
If with pleasure you are viewing any work a man is doing,
If you like him or you love him, tell him now;
Don't withhold your approbation till the parson makes oration
And he lies with snowy lilies on his brow;
No matter how you shout it he won't really care about it;
He won't know how many teardrops you have shed;
If you think some praise is due him now's the time to slip it to him,
For he cannot read his tombstone when he's dead.
More than fame and more than money is the comment kind and sunny
And the hearty, warm approval of a friend.
For it gives to life a savor, and it makes you stronger, braver,
And it gives you heart and spirit to the end;
If he earns your praise-bestow it; if you like him let him know it;
Let the words of true encouragement be said;
Do not wait till life is over and he's underneath the clover;
For he cannot read his tombstone when he's dead.

---By Berton Braley