Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast where we provide one lesson every day to help you with your most important job being a dad.

These are lessons inspired by ancient philosophy, by practical wisdom, and insights from dads all over the world.

Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

You've been graced. Charles de Gaulle had a hard life. He was a POW in World War I. He had to flee France in

order to save it in World War II. He endured protests and assassination attempts. He also had a daughter

named Anne who was born with Down syndrome. In the early 20th century when she was born, this was not

something people knew how to deal with.

Handicapped children were often sent away to institutions.

Parents were made to feel ashamed as if they were responsible for having a retarded child.

But not DeGal and his wife.

They embraced their daughter.

They embraced, built their lives around the

challenging but rewarding experience of raising her. Her birth was a trial for my wife and myself,

he said, but believe me, Anne is my joy and my strength. She is the grace of God in my life. She has

kept me in the security of obedience to the sovereign

will of God. There is a beautiful photo you can see of De Gaulle playing on the beach with Anne.

It was not an isolated incident, but an insight into his soul, into the power that children

have over parents, the ability they have to transform us. As de Gaulle's biographer,

Julian Jackson writes, this strangely austere man who found it so hard to express affection would

spend hours playing with his child, singing her songs, telling her stories she could not understand,

encouraging her to play with small toys or to clap her hands.

Each of our children is different. Each of them comes with their own limitations,

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