Perseverance — Page 2
2 – the story of al-haj Rashid ahmad american MY FATHER My father, Albert Thomas, was born in 1903 and was 20 years older than I. I don’t recall his exact birthdate. His demeanor was conservative and law abiding, and he remained aloof from the surrounding world of vices. This earned him a great deal of respect and trust as he stood up for what he felt was right. He was a mild- mannered person who always kept his emotions under control. I seldom remember him getting angry, and on second thought, if there was something that irritated him, it would have been hard to know. Although he was a Christian by name, he was not regular or active in any church. I never saw him going to church in my life. My father was a man of integrity. People trusted him without question, even crude gangsters and ruffians. My cousin told me a story about my Dad when I was approximately twenty years old. He narrated that back when I was a child my father was asked to drive a truck full of alcohol through a dry state, namely Oklahoma. Under the great threat of those Prohibition laws, no one dared to undertake such a risky and dangerous venture, but my father did. He accepted the responsibility under one condition: he be given only one key, the key to the ignition. As he was driving the truck in Oklahoma, he was pulled over by the police. They questioned him about the cargo. He replied that he did not know and he was unaware of its contents. The police then asked him to open the cargo cabin, to which he replied he did not have the key. Upon being questioned whether he was hauling something illegal, he responded that he was only given the job of driving the truck to its destination. The police confiscated the truck and told him to leave back for home. My father was not charged, but it was commonly