That was the title of a poster my father had on the wall of his pediatric office. It’s the title of a poem by Dorothy Law Nolte, and I saw it every day while I was working there.

It’s been on my mind ever since watching the finale of ‘Young Sheldon.’ Lately, whenever I’ve brought up this show to people, the usual reaction is “oh, I never got into ‘The Big Bang Theory’ ” or even “I never liked the character of Sheldon” — usually delivered in the tone that signals “and I don’t want to hear anything more about it.” Which has been frustrating, because I loved ‘Young Sheldon.’ Not because it’s the origin story of the character from TBBT, who displays many of the characteristics of autism (never acknowledged in the show) and is convincingly played by Jim Parsons, although that aspect is done well and the younger Sheldon is beautifully played by Iain Armitage. No, I loved the show because it gave us a family held together by unshakeable love. And because it gave us a terrific father and let us see how his example lived on in the next generation.

The Cooper family is a normal family with one special child. The show never shies away from how difficult it can be to have a special child, even a genius. We see the shifts the family is put to as they try to accommodate Sheldon’s intelligence and his many, many autistic quirks. We watch the parents argue about what is the best course of action. George Cooper is a blustering kind of father who yells a lot, but is never violent–except for the time that Georgie Jr. brings home a girl from school who is afraid of her mother’s new boyfriend. When the boyfriend shows up, drunk, at the Coopers’ door and demands that the girl go with him, George asks her if she wants to go. “No sir,” she replies. “Well then,” says George, and when the boyfriend threatens him, knocks him out and tells his wife Mary to call the police.

Mary wants to cling to her special boy and keep him close, and her focus is so tight on Sheldon that she often ignores both Missy and Georgie Jr., unaware of their struggles. But George Sr. is more aware and often is the first to realize when Missy or Georgie are going off the rails. Which they both do, often. Missy feels shunted aside and not as valued by her mother as Sheldon is, and acts out by sneaking out, smoking, drinking, and going to parties. Georgie is full of plans and ambitions, which sometimes involve breaking the law and do not include getting any kind of degree. (He’s aided and abetted in this by his grandmother, who runs an illegal gambling enterprise in the back room of her laundrette.) George Sr. often finds himself in the position of rescuing Missy or Georgie–and sometimes his mother-in-law. But after he blows up, he always forgives them and moves on.

Georgie eventually falls for a woman, Mandy, who is 12 years older than him, lies to her about his age (he’s 17 at the time), and gets her pregnant. He immediately takes responsibility, reading up on pregnancy and childbirth, going with Mandy to doctor appointments, and trying to get her to marry him. At first Mandy refuses (which causes a lot more drama both for strict Baptist Mary, who is shunned from her church, and with Mandy’s own parents), but eventually Georgie’s determination to do the right thing wins her over. We see just how much Georgie has taken on the mantle of fatherhood when he comes into the room where Mandy is in labor, full of bickering family, and says directly to her “Do you want these people here?” Mandy says no, and like his father, Georgie says “well then” and kicks them all out. His father has taught him to respect what a woman says.

George Sr. dies of a heart attack near the end of the last season. Sheldon retreats into his own head, Missy acts out in anger, and Mary withdraws entirely into her religion. It is left to Georgie Jr. to step up and be the man, and he does so without hesitation. He handles all the funeral arrangements, he is the only one who notices and talks to Missy, and in general he is a steady and calm presence. At the funeral, he tells the congregation that “when I quit the football team, I thought my dad was going to kill me. When I dropped out of high school, I thought he was going to kill me. When I got a girl pregnant, I thought he was going to kill me. But as you can see, he didn’t.” George Sr. never stopped loving his son no matter what he did. And Georgie knew it. In the end, he goes up to the casket and says “Don’t worry. I got this. I’ll take care of them. I love you, Dad.”