I am on sensory overload right now. I have just read through this thread, and the missing ones have figured out that I can see them in your words. The message I keep getting is for those of us who are Dads and Moms, Grandmothers and Grandfathers, surrogate Moms and Dads, have to pay attention to our children and what we say and do, because we never know what it is that we will leave with them that they will carry to the next generations. In the words of Jeri, kat, Spaw, Dani, and Kendall, I get a sense of who their Fathers were, and how these dear friends came to be the friends whom I have come to know and love.

I guess that is the lesson of this thread, which has reduced me to tears several times both with the fond rememberances, and the not so fond remembrances. Religious beliefs and faith aside, your real legacy, your real immortality, lies in those whose lives you touched. Your children, natural and chosen, are the most important repository of who you are. Whether you try or not, whether you realize it or not, you will leave a legacy. Choosing your words, and your actions, carefully is good salt. Because you don't know which of those is carried forward. Re-read the posts by Spaw, Dani, kat, and Jeri. Think of the jackknife, the Vet's Stadium incident, kat and bet's Dad, and climbing into the engine "just one more time". Understand that those men, in those moments, influenced your lives, now our lives, and the lives of those that you care enough to teach the lessons to. You WILL leave a mark on those that follow. The real lesson of Fathers Day, Mothers Day, and Dying Day, is that we cannot walk the path or field, without leaving sign of our passing through. We ought think that through a bit. What sign of our coming and going are we leaving.

Thanks to each of you that posted. I mention the names I did because these are folks that I am very close to. But each of you have opened the door between those here and those that got away, for me.

Now I think I shall call my Mom and Dad and tell them I love them ..... and you.

All the best,

Mick