There’s a nice story I heard recently about an inspirational man, an incredible father, and an inspirational yid.
His children were asked how their father was able to raise such a beautiful family of healthy happy and frum children, each one a gem, one better than the next. He cited the following:
in the early 1900’s it was, k’yodu’a, extremely difficult for a jew to hold on to a job with Shabbos et all. His father would lose his job every Monday morning, just like hundreds of other jews, because they didn’t show up on Saturday. He would walk in on Monday morning, and the boss would “give it to him” for his backwards way of life and for having his priorities unbalanced. then he would hand him his pink slip, and was shown the door, never to come back. His father would come home with a huge smile, and show his children his pink slip, and thank the RBS”O for allowing him to keep Shabbos again, enjoy the pleasures of ruchniyous, instead of giving in to work. He would then be mispallel to find a new job and head outdoors for job-hunting.
When sukkos came their father would build a sukkah and proudly decorate it with all his pink slips all around the walls.
It was with such optimism, such pride, and attitude, that all the children grew up to appreciate and love yiddishkeit.