For Part One or Part Two of this series, click on the links here.
The final reference in Presiden Paul H. Dunn's talk from the April 1971 General Conference, "Young People - Learn Wisdom in Thy Youth" quotes a famous entertainer:
The Quote (with context):
"In today’s fast-moving, materialistic world,
unfortunately many fathers place their business affairs ahead of their children.
I am appalled as I look around me,
as was Eddie Cantor some years ago,
when he said that a man will spend a whole week figuring out what stocks to buy with $1,000—
but he won’t spend an hour with his child,
in whom he has a greater investment."
Well, it's more of a paraphrase than a quote, so I went looking for Eddie Cantor. Boy, did THAT ever open a Pandora's box!
This clip was semi-okay. I had to tiptoe carefully - a lot of his remaining work is offensive by today's standards. He was a prominent blackface performer - and holds the remarkable distinction of being the first person censored on television. Some of his work is still a little risque in its references to sexuality today. Look him up if you want - you've been warned.
Yet in his day he was a very beloved performer, and helped many other performers get their start. Yet, as I learned more about his life, it started to show how important family was to him. His wife and he had five daughters themselves.
His autobiography, "My Life is in Your Hands" (great title) is going on my reading list. Perhaps I'll find the quote or something similar to the quote in there. I have a feeling there's other things to be found.
Something I've always loved about my faith is their emphasis on building relationships, especially in the family. There's always temptations to look away from family to find satisfaction elsewhere. I know from my own life that if the family ain't working, ain't nothing working right, so I've always done my imperfect best to appreciate and cherish the moments I had with my kids, and try to build a family that wanted to stay together, in heart if not in person.
When I was a child, my church put out a lot of funny and poignant commercials to help other appreciate the family and to pay attention to them. Here's one of my favorites, back when we used to call ourselves Mormons:
