Today is my father's birthday. I've said before, and I'll say again, that my father is my hero. I hope to be the kind of man he is. I hope to be the kind of father he is. I hope to be the kind of brother, son, husband, and friend he is. He's not perfect by any means, but to my knowledge only one person in history has any claim on that. He has made mistakes, and poor decisions in his life, but he's learned from them and grown from them. In the processes he allowed my brother and I to learn and grow from his mistakes, which allowed us to avoid having to make those same mistakes ourselves. Not that we always did avoid them. He's also been wise enough to know that you don't just teach your children, you also learn from them. It's been a two way street my whole life, even when I didn't appreciate or understand it.

But enough with the sentimental crap. I've written it before, and it doesn't get more true the more I say it. There's a lot of fun that I've gotten from my dad as well. My taste in music is largely influenced by my dad. There's a reason that I still think The Who is the greatest rock band ever, and that U2 is as smart as they are savvy. Thanks to him, I appreciate Robert Johnson and BB King. There's very little music that I can honestly say I can't stand, because he taught me that even in bad music there can be fun stuff that makes it worth a listen. Even as he went from working in a guitar store to being an accountant, he never once questioned the "sensibility" of choosing the arts as my profession. (Honestly I think he likes being an accountant though... which makes no sense to me.)

Yes, my dad is everything I want to be... a snob when it comes to beer, music and books; a political didact, opinionated, curmudgeonly, passionate and inquisative (and prone to using large words when it suits him). I'm proud of him, and I'm thrilled that he's proud of me.

Happy Birthday Dad! I love you.

My experience as a father is different that what most fathers have. However it is clear to me that some things about being a father are universal. There is a mix of fear, joy, heatrbreak, pride, excitement, regret, questioning, learning and passion that makes fatherhood different than anthing else in life that a man can experience, and through it all runs a thread of love. All of the other emtions are merely offshoots of that love. A part of who you are is outside your body and beyond your control.

It takes more than contributing DNA to be a father. There are many people, who have fathered children, but are not fathers. There are also many people who are fathers to people who have no biological relation to them. Fatherhood is a decision and a comittment.

Today, I want to thank all of the people who have taught me how to be a father. These people are teachers, friends, fathers-of-friends, authors, and even TV personalities (like Mr. Rogers!). But, of course, there are two people who taught me more about being a father than all the others put together. One is my son Aiden Thomas who taught me more in 5 days than I have learned in almost thirty years about life, love, joy and pain.

The other is my own father. He became a father young, and like ever father, had to learn as he went. And as with anyone doing anything, he made mistakes along the way. He probably thinks he made more than he actually did. But he learned from those mistakes, and taught me to learn from those mistakes and my own as well. He taught me well, although some of the lessons took me a bit longer to learn than he might have liked. I'm proud of him, and whenever I do one of those questionaires that includes "Who is your hero?" I can answer without hesitation: "My Dad."

I'm not a country fan... but sometimes, they get it right.

There were times I thought he was being just a little bit hard on me
But now I understand he was making me become the man he knew that I could be
In everything he ever did he always did with love
And I'm proud today to say I'm his son
When somebody says I hope I get to meet your dad I just smile and say you already have
--Keith Urban

Aren't they just adorable.

A guest post, by my dad, in response to:

On May 15th 2007, all internet users are to not go to a gas station in protest of high gas prices. Gas is now over $3.00 a gallon in most places. There are 73,000,000+ American members currently on the internet network, and the average car takes about 30 to 50 dollars to fill up. If all users did not go to the pump on the 15th, it would take $2,292,000,000.00 (that's almost 3 BILLION) out of the oil companys pockets for just one day, so please do not go to the gas station on May 15th and lets try to put a dent in the Middle Eastern oil in dustry for at least one day. If you agree (which I cant see why you wouldnt) resend this to all your contact list. With it saying, ''Don't pump gas on May 15th"

OK- it's out here and this is my response....

This stuff doesn't work.

Cutting $3 billion of retail gasoline sales in one day makes no difference. That's because we're going to buy that gas anyway. The only way to really make an impact is to stop buying gasoline. Now, putting a $3B dent in the TOTAL sales for EACH AND EVERY month, with no recovery would make a difference.

This is a matter very dear to my heart (must be that old leftover hippie in me). The only impact we can make is to make long-term lasting impacts. One-day "feel good" stuff like this does nothing to the market forces that create fuel costs. And remember that the US has generally the lowest retail fuel pump prices of any industrialized non-oil producing nation. Europeans were paying $3.00/gallon when we were whining about it hitting a buck and a half. However, we never forced the automakers to make realistically fuel-efficient cars- we kept buying those big honking things that suck fuel at rates that make OPEC smile.

I suggest you instead send a written letter (they ignore most e-mails) to your legislators at both the state and national level and demand that
the money currently going to support oil companies goes to building a reliable and efficient public transportation system that includes local and national. Our railroads should be the best way to get around the mid-west instead of the unreliable joke Amtrak has become. It's ludicrous that Bloomington/Normal buses require one to leave two hours early to get from South Main to West College. It silly that the busses stop running before the malls close- how can mall employees use a bus if the last bus leaves before they're done closing their stores? That's the kind of stuff that will make the oil producers take notice.

Ride bicycles, use public transportation, share rides, get your car tuned up, get rid of anything that gets less than 25 mpg (real measured MPG from your actual driving- not the bogus EPA ratings on the stickers when you buy the car), plan trips, be a good and faithful steward of all the resources with which God has blessed you.

In addition, the gas station owner isn't the one getting the money- most places make more profit off the candy, pop, and other junk they sell than the gas. The food chain puts the money into two main places- the oil corporation and state tax coffers.

Make a difference by doing something that really makes a difference...

jte