Hello, and welcome to the excerpt.

Yesterday was Father's Day, so today on forum, we're featuring what our readers wanted to share about their dads.

They're also talking about important lessons learned from their dads that they still rely on today.

I'm Michael McArthur. I leave the opinion sections of Gannett, the parent company of USA Today.

This is a bonus episode of the excerpt, highlighting a series from USA Today's opinion team called Forum.

Here's what you told us. If I could tell my dad something on his father's day, if he were still with us today, you know, I think the most important thing I'd tell him is that I love him.

And, you know, I thank him for being a part of my life

and for teaching me very important lessons that I still use today with my own daughter.

David Ross Bradfield is 38 and lives in Roswell, Georgia. He said that he took a lot from his

own childhood into parenting his young daughter, who will turn to this July.

He struggled with depression and anxiety. He had some bad run-ins with, you know, job-related things, and he got into a lot of heavy drinking, which alienated him from the rest of the family.

And he wasn't there quite a lot.

And I was always a very observant child.

I took a lot of, I guess, backhanded lessons from him, such as being around more often.

So looking at me today, I'm a very adult parent in my daughter's life. We go on bike rides every

weekend. We take her to the park constantly. I'm always there for the feedings and the

changings and all of the hard things that go with parenting.

My dad's absence was probably the most important lesson that I took from town.

But there were other things too.

You know, he taught me the importance of saying I love you to family.

He taught me the importance of, you know, being smart, being educated, asking questions. He taught me the importance of, you know, being smart, being educated, asking questions.

He taught me the importance of cooking and being self-sufficient, which I carry these lessons

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