June 17, 2018

Every so often Father's Day falls on my Mom's birthday. June 17, 1984, my oldest daughter's first day in our world, was one of those times. So today when Father's Day and Mom's and Jenny's birthday all converge is pretty special to me. Every child deserves to have great parents but not every child gets them. I'm one of the fortunate ones who had great parents. Mom and Dad were modest people. They were devoted to one another and to their children. Their love for me and my two older sisters was never in doubt. Unlike me, they always stayed between the lines of responsibility and morality. I'm fortunate my excursions outside the lines didn't do me in but that's another story for another time and place.

I have friends whose parents were the opposite of mine, selfish, irresponsible, mean-spirited, abusive, or absent altogether by choice, and yet they somehow developed and navigate life with a moral compass embodying values like those of my parents. I'm in awe of you who've succeeded in spite of your parents. I think about you on Father's Day and Mother's Day and am inspired to persevere and carry on the struggle for good in this difficult world.

Any success I may have had owes more to Dad and Mom than I can calculate. The daughter who is named after Mom is, along with her two younger sisters, the greatest reward of all my good fortune. She's proud to carry her grandmother's name, Virginia, a name that has been passed down in my Mom's family through generations of strong, caring women, and I could not be more proud of her. Happy Birthday, Bunny Rabbit! I love you so much!

Today has more personal meaning than I could ever express. I miss you, Dad and Mom. Remembering you makes me smile with affection and gratitude. You're in my heart every day of my life. How fortunate I am to be your son.

So, love and best wishes to you men out there who do justice to the word father, to my friends who, like me, miss your good father, to my friends whose partner is a good father, and especially to my friends for whom Father's Day has a different meaning because you had a father who fell so far short of the mark.  To each one of you-

Happy Father's Day