A Father's Final Lesson: Three True Things

May 26, 2026 - 18:40

"Tell me three true things about yourself."

If I had to define how my father, Ben Sasse, raised me, those seven words would sum it up. I cannot recall the first time he used them, but over the years, that prompt has guided me through countless moments. After every success or failure, whether I was jumping with joy or soaked in tears, my dad asked me to recite three things. One that reaffirmed my relationship with God. One that reaffirmed our family's unconditional love for me. And one that reaffirmed the qualities I valued most, like perseverance and grit.

The specific statements changed over time, but the goal behind the formula stayed the same. Get out of your messy head. Take an aerial view of your life.

In December, two hours before I walked across the stage at my college graduation, we learned that my dad had been diagnosed with metastasized, stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The weeks that followed were a blur of extraordinary grief and random crying. In parking lots. On morning runs. In Trader Joe's checkout lines. While studying for the MCAT. I am not sure what the world record is for how many times someone can use the word "terminal" in a 30-minute appointment, but I am pretty confident that between Memorial Sloan Kettering and MD Anderson Cancer Center, at least one renowned oncologist came close.

In the months since, which is more time than early conversations and scans predicted, I have watched my dad navigate this new world with grit, humor, resilience, and frequent puking in the front yard. But most importantly, I have watched him pull out the best weapon for any battle. A rooted worldview grounded in theology.