Papas and Pillars

Jun 21, 2026

“He was a pillar of strength.”

I heard this comment in passing the other day. It brought to mind an immediate image of my dad and got me thinking about pillars and fathers, and how fitting that is, leading into today’s Father’s Day.

As always, would love to hear your thoughts.

Words have power. Use them well.

This week’s word: Pillar

Pillar. What a strong word.

Pillar is a noun: “the strong vertical post used to support a building structure or as a freestanding monument. In architecture, it’s an upright column used as a load-bearing support. Or it can be a freestanding monument. Or, there are naturally created verticals, like ice formations resembling columns.”

And a pillar represents a “primary support system,” a core tenet in life, a vital individual in the community or family, a core principle in business or life, a fundamental foundation you live by.

Guider. Backbone. Leader. Light. Rock. Sinew. Supporter. Upholder. Worthy.

It got me thinking about the pillars in a foundation and how my dad has always been an ever-present pillar in my family—my foundation, my life’s foundation.

In fact, it reminded me of another Father’s Day five years ago. My house was in the process of being built when we had a foundation party. The family gathered, and we had a picnic in what would be the living room.

The only things there were the concrete foundation and the pillars that held the scaffolding and the house's structural framework. It was a papas-and-pillars party!

My father-pillar also led to other pillars in my foundation, giving me a solid and balanced life — tenets I live by: respect, integrity, love, trust, levity, and light.

Recently, my dad got sick and spent a month in the hospital and rehab recovering from pneumonia and other complications. It initially shook my foundation. The pillar of our family had fallen. But what happened almost immediately was that the pillars of strength my dad instilled in us rose within me, allowing me to be strong for him and my mom during that time. It was an awakening and a self-recognition that, as a daughter, I am a tower of strength that derived from his strongest living example.

“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.” – Ghandi

A pillar also defines a systemic foundation crucial to a larger part of a philosophy and faith. It symbolizes will, stability, and a divine presence. Prayer and meditation access these vital pillars.

What are the pillars that rise from your foundation and support your life, your world, your hope, your present and future?