From the book: Raising a Modern-Day Knight
by Robert Lewis
Manhood:
Don’t Let Your Son Leave Home without it
Sam Rayburn was arguably the most powerful politician in America. Sam remained Speaker of the House for many years.
Later in life he was asked about his most memorable moment. He said it occurred at a railroad station in East Texas.
On this particular day in 1900, Sam’s Dad had hitched the buggy and driven his 18-year old son to town. The boy was going off to college and would be leaving the family farm. Father and son quietly waited for the train. Sam’s suitcase, some clothes bundled with a rope, lay at his feet.
Then when the train arrived and Sam was prepared to board, his father reached out and placed a fistful of dollars into his hand. Twenty-five dollars. Sam never forgot that, he talked about that twenty-five dollars the rest of his life.
“Only God knows how he saved it. We earned only enough to live. I often wondered what he and my mother gave up and sacrificed.”
With tears in his eyes, Sam turned to board the train. Again his father reached out and grasped his hands. The four words he spoke would echo forever in the boy’s memory. He said, simply, “Sam, be a man!”
