Three successful people reveal how fathers shape their destiny.

Rebecca Lobo: Be Loving

¡¡I knew ¡ª even when I was very young ¡ª just how much my mom and dad loved each other. Whenever one of them went out, they kissed each other good-bye. My brother, sister and I thought this was gross! But when I get married, I can only hope that I will have found someone who loves me as much as Dad loves Mom. Because there was always so much love in the family, I grew up with an incredible security blanket. ¡¡

¡¡Mom battled breast cancer when I was in college. Despite his worry, Dad was a pillar of strength for us and especially for her. After her mastectomy, she decided against the added trauma of breast-reconstruction surgery. Mom told me that in their entire marriage Dad never suggested that she even change her hairstyle. Instead he has always told her how beautiful she is. And that¡¯s why she thinks fighting cancer wasn¡¯t as hard as it could have been. She knew that no matter what, Dad and his love would be there. ¡¡

  Rebecca Lobo, a former College Player of the Year, plays basketball for the WNBA¡¯s New York Liberty.¡¡

Richard Branson: Encourage¡¡

¡¡My sisters and I grew up in a little village in England. Our father was a struggling lawyer, but I always knew he was special. He never criticized, but used praise to bring out our best. He'd say, ¡°If you pour water on flowers, they flourish. If you don¡¯t give them water, they die.¡±¡¡

¡¡I remember as a child I said something unkind about somebody, and my father said, ¡°Any time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it¡¯s a reflection of you.¡± He explained that if I looked for the best in people, I would get the best in return. I've tried to follow this principle in running my company.¡¡

¡¡Dad's also always been very understanding. At 15, I started a magazine. It was taking up a great deal of my time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a choice: stay in school or leave to work on my magazine. ¡¡

¡¡I decided to leave, and Dad tried to sway me from my decision, as any good father would. When he realized I had made up my mind, he said, ¡°Richard, when I was 23, my dad persuaded me to go into law. And I've always regretted it. I wanted to be an archeologist, but I didn¡¯t pursue my dream. You know what you want. Go fulfill that dream.¡± ¡¡

¡¡As it turned out, my little publication went on to become Student, a national magazine for young people in the U.K. My wife and I have two children, and I¡¯d like to think we are bringing them up in the same way Dad raised me. ¡¡

  Richard Branson is chairman of the Virgin Group of Companies, which owns Virgin Atlantic Airways, Virgin Entertainment and Virgin Cola. ¡¡

John Lewis: Have Hope¡¡

¡TAs a young boy, I used to complain about having to get up so early to work on our farm in Troy, Ala. One day my father took me aside and said, ¡°Son, we have to do this in order to make things better. Hang in there and things will improve.¡±

¡TDad was an optimist by nature, and he instilled in me this concept of hope about the future. He also taught us that we couldn¡¯t just be concerned about our own circumstances. We also had to be concerned about others. ¡¡

¡¡I saw my father always giving and always sharing. We didn¡¯t have that much to share or to give, but he had faith that things would work out¡ªeven under tremendously difficult conditions. There was a lot of fear back then in Alabama. Segregation was very rigid. Water fountains for us were marked ¡°Colored,¡± and we could only walk on one side of the street. But somehow he survived under these circumstances without becoming bitter, angry or hateful. ¡¡

¡¡My father passed away in 1977. But if he had lived to see my election to Congress he would have been very proud and happy. I'd like to believe that he's looking down and watching me today. ¡¡

  John Lewis represents Georgia¡¯s 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. ¡¡

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