As I continued in my education, pursued my own dreams and ambitions, I left his knowledge and his understanding far behind. He had left school in the sixth grade to help support his mother and sister after his father gave up and ran away. He taught himself and was often mistaken for an Oxford man. But the sins of the fathers are visited upon the sons from generation unto generation. And, instead, he became like a trapped creature gnawing away at himself, desperate for freedom.
Blessing is the bestowal of approval and encouragement.
And without the blessing of the father all else, it seems, fails to be conducive to happiness or welfare. For some of us, it seems, without the father's blessing, his approval and encouragement, nothing fully satisfies. The expectations, always changing on us, can never be fully met. But it seems to me that, in general, we judge our fathers to have fallen short more than we judge our mothers. Some explain that that's because a mother's love is unconditional and a father's love is not.