"It gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubborness of the inorrigible nonconformist warmly acclaimed." - Albert Einstein

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I aspire to a stubbornly incorrigible nonconformity. The degree to which I have achieved my aspiration I leave in the capable hands of those whose wisdom and humilty exceed my own.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Father's Day

It is another beautiful day in paradise and tomorrow is Father's Day. My wife and daughter are taking me to the new microbrewery in Wenatchee to celebrate.

Father's Day got me thinking about my relationship with my own father ... and I use the term relationship rather broadly. I cannot think of very many things my father and I ever did together. My father was not very involved, or even interested in me. I felt it then and despite my maturity, I feel it still.

But I have a relationship with my father-in-law, my "Pop," that is wonderful. Mom and Pop stay with us during the summers and head South for the winter (which for them begins mid-August or early September - they take no risks that they will see snow other than on the television, postcards, or in movies). I find that I start eagerly anticipating their getting up here in March and April. And when they get here I just love having them around.

My relationship as a father with my own daughter, who is now 21 has been complicated. At times difficult, but I love seeing how she has matured into a woman who I love and respect. The hardest part for me is that I am not sure she respects me, but that may be a function of her age. I am reminded of Mark Twain's quote about his own father, “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished by how much he'd learned in seven years.”

I am really looking forward to tomorrow. I have high expectations, but fortunately, I have a lot for which to be thankful.

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