"A Father's Dream" by Thomas Gery

 – I was not dropping out; I was going in.

My father wanted better for his first-born son.

Thomas Gery, a common man with uncommon experiences lives in Berks County, Pennsylvania. He served in the U.S. Army with duty in Vietnam. As a social worker he helped children, youth, and adults in a variety of practice venues and situations throughout a work life of 40 years. Married with two adult children and two grandchildren, he is currently writing his life’s story to provide answers to questions his kids will never ask. His first two published stories appeared in Personal Story Publishing Project—Lost & Found, spring 2023 and Sooner or Later, fall 2023. 

Author’s Talk

Thomas Gery

The familial relationship between a father and first-born son is often unique across many cultures. Beginning early in life, I was his protege. He taught me to drive a Farmall H Model tractor at age 10. I learned how to mix mortar; what a mason tender does when assisting a bricklayer. As a young boy, I knew the difference between a weed and a vegetable plant. Dad taught me how to work. He also had expectations. He promoted reading. He encouraged me to attend summer school for the purpose of enrichment: I learned about butterflies and the Civil War battle at Antietam. He made sure I learned to swim. Dad wanted me to graduate from college.  

I have started a memoir. A Father’s Dream is part of a much broader personal story. The feelings, actions, thoughts, words and circumstances of my upbringing and relationship with Dad are fundamental to who I am as a person. Some of my achievements, mistakes, and experiences, good and bad, in life are connected in a way to that relationship. This story indelibly frames a memory for my children, possibly their children too. My hope is to give them a window into my past and an understanding, in part, of how they became who they are now.—Thomas Gery