Happy Father's Day!
It is a beautiful East Texas Sunday. A perfect day to celebrate Father’s Day. No matter if he is your biological father, an adopted father, a stepfather, or just someone who has the role of a father figure in your life. Today we celebrate fathers. I can’t resist reflecting on my father, Mr. Manoel Barbosa Dos Santos, a hardworking man who was always there present in my life. He brought me to my first day of school, took me to my first soccer game at Maracanã stadium, was with me when I joined Merchant Marine Academy, and helped me to fix my first house. It is hard to remember an important event in my life when he was not present. He was always there. And he did it without saying anything. He was from an era when it was unnecessary to say to those you love; I love you. I know of his love for me not because he said it but because he demonstrated it. I remember one time when I was playing soccer at the local fire station’s futsal court when I glimpsed my father with a grin on his fa