Evaluating Fathers

I write this on the eve of Father’s Day–my first as a grandfather and my son’s first as a father. Thus I evaluate fatherhood by my own experience, both failure and success, and offer a few characteristics of the ideal father I wish I had better exhibited:

Fathers go to work when they don’t want to, [...]

May 24th, 2007 | Category: Change, Children, Father's Day, Favorites, Parenthood | One comment

The Word Fathers Long To Hear

Regular readers know our daughter Jenny, who died unexpectedly in October 1995. So in honor of Father’s Day, I share this brief essay about her that I prepared for a writing contest.

And to that I add a few journal snippets from Father’s Days past.
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On Friday we made another expedition to Deal Cemetery in Ladelle to [...]

June 16th, 2004 | Category: Bulletin Insert, Children, Death, Father's Day, Favorites, Holidays, Nostalgia, Parenthood | Leave a comment

What Real Fathers Do

Father's Day approaches, and I'm thinking of someone in particular. We lived in the same neighborhood, went to the same church and even carpooled together. But cancer claimed him in his prime, robbing a wife and two young sons of husband and father. He was my friend, Gerald Graham.

Friends don't laugh at your dreams, no [...]

June 11th, 2002 | Category: Father's Day, Holidays | Leave a comment