You see, even though back then Barack was a Senator and a presidential candidate... to me, he was still the guy who'd picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, I could actually see the pavement going by through a hole in the passenger side door... he was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he'd found in a dumpster, and whose only pair of decent shoes was half a size too small.

But when Barack started telling me about his family -- that's when I knew I had found a kindred spirit, someone whose values and upbringing were so much like mine.

You see, Barack and I were both raised by families who didn't have much in the way of money or material possessions but who had given us something far more valuable -- their unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice, and the chance to go places they had never imagined for themselves.

My father was a pump operator at the city water plant, and he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when my brother and I were young.

And even as a kid, I knew there were plenty of days when he was in pain... I knew there were plenty of mornings when it was a struggle for him to simply get out of bed.

But every morning, I watched my father wake up with a smile, grab his walker, prop himself up against the bathroom sink, and slowly shave and button his uniform.

And when he returned home after a long day's work, my brother and I would stand at the top of the stairs to our little apartment, patiently waiting to greet him... watching as he reached down to lift one leg, and then the other, to slowly climb his way into our arms.

But despite these challenges, my dad hardly ever missed a day of work... he and my mom were determined to give me and my brother the kind of education they could only dream of.

And when my brother and I finally made it to college, nearly all of our tuition came from student loans and grants.

But my dad still had to pay a tiny portion of that tuition himself.

And every semester, he was determined to pay that bill right on time, even taking out loans when he fell short.

He was so proud to be sending his kids to college... and he made sure we never missed a registration deadline because his check was late.

You see, for my dad, that's what it meant to be a man.

Like so many of us, that was the measure of his success in life -- being able to earn a decent living that allowed him to support his family.

你們瞧，即便當時巴拉克已經是一名參議員兼總統(tǒng)候選人了……對我而言，他仍是那個開著輛銹跡斑斑的破車來接我去約會的男子，我?guī)缀醵寄芡高^乘客這側車門上的破洞看到飛逝而過的路面……他仍是那個把一張從垃圾箱里翻出來的咖啡桌當做自己最了不起的財產的男子，那個僅有的一雙體面的鞋子比自己的腳還小了半號的男子。

然而，當巴拉克開始向我講述他的家庭時——就在那一刻，我明白我遇到了一個志同道合的靈魂，他的價值觀和成長經歷與我驚人地相似。

如你們所知，養(yǎng)育巴拉克和我的兩個家庭都沒有太多金錢或物質財富，但是，他們卻給予了我們更為珍貴的東西——無條件的愛，大無畏的犧牲，以及到達他們自己從未想象過的目標的機會。

我的父親是城市水廠的一名泵浦操作員，在我和哥哥很小的時候就被診斷出患有多發(fā)性硬化癥。

即使當時還小，我也知道他常常被病痛折磨……我知道有許多清晨，僅僅連起床對他來說都是一場痛苦掙扎。

然而每天早晨，我都看到父親面帶微笑地醒來，抓緊他的助步器，用浴室的洗臉池支撐著自己的身體，緩慢地刮好胡須，扣好制服。

然后，當他在漫長的一天工作后，我和哥哥會站在通往我家小公寓的樓梯頂上，耐心地等著迎接他回家……我們注視著他彎下腰，舉起一條腿，然后是另一條腿，慢慢地爬上樓梯，迎向我們的懷抱。

然而無論多么艱難，我父親從未請過一天假……他和我母親決心要讓我和哥哥受到他們夢寐以求的教育。

當哥哥和我終于升上大學的時候，我們幾乎所有的學費都來源于學生貸款和補助金。

但是我父親仍不得不自己掏腰包來支付我們學費中的一小部分。

每個學期，他都堅持按時支付學費賬單，在他捉襟見肘的時候，他甚至寧可去貸款。

能送自己的子女去上大學，他是如此地驕傲……他從未讓我們因為父親姍姍來遲的支票而錯過任何一個報到截止日期。

你們瞧，對我的父親來說，這是身為一個男人的責任。

就和我們中的很多人一樣，這就是他衡量生命成功與否的方式——能否靠工作讓自己的家庭過上體面的生活。