Happy Father's Day!

**Skeptical** · Posted: Sun Jun 15, 2008 4:31 pm Post subject: Happy Father's Day!

You know, dads, in American society, tend to get the short-end of the stick. The world pretty much stops on the second Sunday in May for Mothers Day but dear old dad barely warrants a ripple. I'm not complaining mind you but, being a good dad isn't a job I would wish on anyone lightly. Skeppianne and Skeppilina are 23 and 20 now -- Skeppianne is married -- but my job as a father hasn't stopped or gotten easier - and it certainly hasn't gotten cheaper.

You would think, with how many truly negligent fathers there are in this country and around the world, the good ones - being the rarer commodity -- would be celebrated a bit more. As it is, I can't tell you the last time I saw a professioanl athlete mug for the national television cameras and say "Hi Dad!"

My old man has been gone for years. He was a quiet guy who woke up every morning at 5AM to go work in a toxic rubber factory so his wife and five kids would have a good life. If I asked him what he wanted to Fathers Day or his birthday, he would tell me simply that he all he wanted was for me is to be healthy and happy. It turned out he gave me a pretty great gift - he taught me that being a father is nothing flashy. It's about being there. It's about being dependable and consistent. Yes, it is about love too - but a father's love is different and, sadly under-appreciated.

I hope you take a moment to call your Dad and tell him thanks (even if he wasn't perfect). There isn't a year that goes by that I don't miss my old man and wish dearly that I could hug him and tell him thnaks for making me the man I am today.

S
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"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." -- Thomas Jefferson