My First Father's Day.

My first father's day was fantastic! Calli got me a beautiful key chain locket with her picture of her in it (I spent Sunday showing it off to everyone at work. Well, mostly the ladies, 'cause the guys see it and think “Yup. That's a kid alright”). Andrea got me Slash's new CD, and a book: “The Secrets of the Freemasons” by Pat Morgan The book is great, and timely, as I finished another book the day before. It gives away more than I thought they would, considering it's written more like a recruitment pamphlet than a conspiracy revelation. The CD is FREAKIN' AWSOME! It features a bunch of guest vocalists (kinda like Santana did), like Ian Ashbury (of The Cult), Chris Cornell, Fergy (not a fan, but these songs are freaking steller!), Ozzy, Alice Cooper, Cyprus Hill, M Shadows from Avenged Sevenfold, etc. Slash shows a fantastic versatility without losing his particular flavor that makes him so distinctive. Look at me, gushing like a 12-year-old!

When I got home, Andrea had Veal Parmesan ready for dinner with garlic bread – TREATS!! and black forest cake. Does it get any better?

Normally, I don't like to get attention because it happens to be that time of year (I'd rather get attention for being a clever smart-ass!), but this was different. With all of the focus on fatherhood, it struck me that I'm part of a bigger institution. There are a few words in the language (or any other language) that trigger a lot of sentiment, or baggage as the case may be. Many of the Blogs I've read focus on the hero's that raised us, but there's a few stories of regret too.

Most of the time, it's an absolute delight to spend time with my little girl, but sometimes, she's having a bad day, sometimes I am, but I still spend the time with her, because I don't want to be another cat's-in-the-cradle story. Also, odds are that she will grow up to date men who are a lot like me, and I find that mighty sobering! She's always easy to love, but not always easy to spend time with, so I drink it in when she's all smiles and giggles, and rock and soothe her when she's in an exhausted tizzy. Like every other relationship, she will test my patience, and a view of the bigger picture will serve me well to keep it all in context.