In honor of Father's Day and fathers everywhere, we offer our readers' responses to the prompt: What did you learn from your father? Our mailbox runneth over with kind, funny and even inspiring letters. Thank you. Here is a good sampling to get you in the mood for Father's Day. More to come in Sunday's column, and in this Blog over the next two days. We will also have a Father's Day comment board where you can offer your own answers to the question: What did I learn from my father?

My husband and I are very blessed to have come from families with very involved fathers.  The top three things my dad has taught me (so far) are:
 
3)  Do not be afraid of snakes.  Just know when to leave them alone.
2)  Have enough funny family stories to fill every holiday; the best ones are about the cat.
1)  Take pictures with your sisters: in front of the door, by the pond, under the tree, and at the beach.  Always take one "nice one" (for Mom) and then one "funny one" (for the rest of us!).  Where would we be without those pictures with all the silly faces?
 
My son (who turns three this week) is already a whiz in the kitchen.  He and my husband do all the cooking.  Charlie's top three things his dad has taught him are:
3)  Grocery shopping with Dad ALWAYS means you get a cookie.
2)  The "five second rule" is the gospel truth.
1)  The bigger the mess, the better it tastes!
 
Thanks!  This was a fun project to write!
Lauren Player, Halethorpe

My Dad taught me several things, one funny, one not. He taught me the gift of sacrifice, as he drove me to and from our home in Frederick to Baltimore on lonely college weekends, and he did the same for all my siblings. He took me to Orioles games when he abhorred baseball, and also broke down and let us get a dog, then a second one, when all the while he hated dogs. And who took the German Shepherd out to poop once her rear end gave out?  Dad.
I owe so much to Frank O'Leary, but was he perfect? Sorry, Dad, No way! When I was a lad, I saw him eating raw oysters from a pint container and begged for one. He gave it to me, without any cocktail sauce. It tasted terrible, just as he intended. Years later, he told me "You weren't ready for the lesson in supply and demand!" Now, we cherish our joint seafood moments with crabs and oysters. I have been blessed!
Mike O'Leary

My father - Dan Holtzman - has taught me:
-To treat everyone fairly.
-To love family
-To value education  & reading
-To love sports especially baseball
-To seek justce
-To seek truth
-To respect our religion - Judaism - and to respect
everyones right to worship [or not to worship] in
their own way
-To show me through his example how to be a good
husband and father
-To revere the law especially the US Constitution and
the ten commandments
-To question authority and to be especially critical
of our political leaders when they lie to us or break
the
law
-To love music
-To want to learn about history
-To care for art both man-made and natural
Allan Holtzman

My dad, Hugh Coyle, taught us that honesty was the best policy, that we should 'tell the truth and shame the devil.' He taught us the value of hard work, first in school and later in the real world.  Had I kept at golf, which we all learned at his side, hard work would ring true there too.  :)  Dad also taught us the value of saving money and never getting into debt.  Actually, the only 'good' debt was a mortgage - owning your own home gave you both a place to live and an investment in your future."
Jane Coyle Ballentine
Baltimore

My father was Joe Muth, Sr. He was a man who dedicated himself to providing for his wife Joan and children, nine. And if that weren't enough, he and his wife fostered many-a-child and also gave exchange students a place to call home. Man people, no matter race, religion, culture were welcomed in our home.
He was a man where three things were of importance to him -- God, family and friends. He was a father who believed in listening to what a child had to say, to work through a problem, to never go to bed angry. He taught what was right and what wasn't. . . . He worked his entire life, even with the on-set of Alzheimer's. He gave to you his smile, with sincerity, friendship and love.  With Honor, Respect and Love I work hard everyday to remember my father through every action of my own, and though I may have hit a few walls, my father still holds me to another day. 
Kathleen Muth
Baltimore