Hug Your Pillars Stories and Poems Honoring Fathers and Father Figures To comprehend the value of fathers and father figures, we need only consider the impact of their absence from the lives of children, teens, women, and men. Like the roots of an oak tree, fathers are the firm pillars that help anchor our philosophies about life, love, finances, and relationships. Pillars that help us confirm who we are and can be. For a young girl, father is the mirror that reflects her inner and outer substance. A young boy recognizes father as the superhero of his early storybook. As we engage society, the value of father to us becomes more apparent. Our encounters with others and ourselves trigger memories of notable impartations in the form of lessons, conversations, and demonstrations. Seeds planted that are now bearing fruit in our lives that we lovingly share with others. Fathers are pillars on which we lean to steady our composure in times of weakness and crisis. Our personal mission and vision statements are fashioned after their indelible impressions. Their imprint is seared in the very DNA of our souls. Through this collection of heartfelt stories and poems, we honor the fathers and father figures of our lives. We hug the pillars who helped shape the men and women we have become and are becoming.