First, my own dad. This is how I remember him most -- hanging out at his ham radio set. I learned Morse Code before I learned how to write. I can't remember it now, but it was fun to have this secret language of dots and dashes. I suppose the first time I said "hi" to someone I could never see on ham radio was my first foray into social media! How he would have loved this wild and crazy blog world!
Then there's Rick. I've used this photo before because I love it so much. It may be the first or second Father's Day I was part of their lives and the expressions tell the story. I remember the gloriously easy and fun times and the tough ones, too. I know all the love, the worry, the fears and the joys a dad faces, seeing it through Rick's eyes. (And seeing that helped me to understand my own dad's. You think you do. You don't until you've lived it.)
And then there's this one. He's learning the ropes. The ups and downs of being a parent. And all the love that goes with it. There's just a little bit of us that hopes that our Baby Grand gives as good as his dad gave when he was a teenager! (Huh? Why do you want to know? I have a life, you know. Whatever.) Just enough! And I'm also confident he'll love this little guy and all who come after him, till the cows come home.
That little baby will one day, perhaps, be a dad of his own. Somehow I think he has a lot of legacy to live up to -- and I'm pretty darned sure his parents will prepare him for the challenge.
