Father's Day

The Crazed American would like to take a moment, in light of it being Father's Day weekend, to reflect on his own Father. Simply put, Dad is the standard by which I hold myself and others (and I cringe when I find myself lacking). In my "Personal Dictionary", Dad is synonymous with "Manhood", Honor, and Family. Dad has (to steal a line from 1997's As Good As It Gets) made "...me want to be a better man." Viewing my childhood with the view of hindsight, I lived a comfortable and safe growing up, where I never wanted for a thing, ever (Fischofer's 1968 Mustang with the 289, aside - but then I did get a memorable set of wheels...). I felt that my brother and I were the center of my parents world, everything else was secondary. That was a humbling lesson and that lesson has stuck with me. A man's child or children are the most important things in the world. Nothing, at anytime, should compromise their well being, if the Father has anything to say about it.

Morality was never relative. I would like to think that I was taught right from wrong. I had a moral compass by which I have charted and navigated my whole life. Forget school, my Dad taught me every valuable skill I posses. The single two most valuable skills I ever learned were: 1) Initiative - he who has it wins, and 2) Decisiveness - sometimes even a bad decision is better than no decision. Other critical skills - the ability to wield a hammer or circular saw, diagnose (if not fix) car trouble, fix virtually anything, public speaking, proper sight picture, breath control, trigger squeeze, stashing chocolate chip cookies, the proper position of attention and hand salute and the indispensable value of artillery (King of Battle).

Found myself reflecting that I can never, ever, call my Father-in-law "Dad". Just can't do it, 'tis an alien thing. Was asked to a while back - had to decline. He ain't my Dad. That position is already filled quite competently.

Now that I am a Dad myself, I have found myself questioning every time that my daughter becomes challenging, "What would Dad do?" That's usually enough to meet the challenge and get it resolved. I have always wanted to be a Dad, now it's up to me to do as good a job as mine did. 'Cause not only is he my father, so he has my respect, but he's also my friend. That means, in my humble opinion, the bar is set pretty damn high.

Thanks, Dad. See you on Sunday.