My father and I were very close. I loved pleasing him, and he was always    21   of my success. If I    22   a spelling contest at school, he was on top of the   23  . Later in life whenever I got a promotion, I’d call my father    24   and he’d rush out to tell all his    25  . In 1970, when I was    26   as president of the Ford Motor Company, I don’t know    27   of us was more excited.
Like many native Italians, my parents were very open with their    28   and their love not only at home, but also in public. Most of my friends would    2 9   hug their fathers. But I hugged and kissed my dad at every    30  —nothing could have felt more    31  .
He was a(n)    32   man who was always trying new things. He was the first person in Allentown to buy a motorcycle.    33  , my father and his motorcycle didn’t    34  too well. He fell off it so often that he   35   it just a month after buying it. As a result, he never again    36   any vehicle with less than four wheels.
Because of that motorcycle, I wasn’t    37   to have a bicycle when I was growing up. Whenever I wanted to ride a bike, I had to   38   one from a friend. However, my father let me drive a car as soon as I    39   sixteen.
My father and I loved and   40   each other. We were close to each other all the time.