Happy Father's Day

We are all shaped by our parents, to some extent. In most cases, a very great extent. On this Father's Day, a small part of what my dad has given me. (If this sounds familiar, that's because I said much the same thing on Mother's Day.)

Dad and I have pretty much always looked a lot alike, so I think a lot of my physical genetics came from his side of the family. Medium height and build, glasses, and an unfortunate tendency toward allergies. I've been told that people have even mistaken us from a distance, although that probably wouldn't happen any more due to hair color. 

My dad has always loved music. He has a wonderful singing voice, and loves to play the guitar. I have a lot of childhood memories of family nights of singing and stories. Often Dad would lead worship songs at church as well. I attribute much of my love of music to growing up with so much of Dad's music around me.

Dad is an engineer by trade, spending most of his working life as part of team that built very large buildings (power plants and such). The detail-oriented approach and mathematical skills that made him great at that job were passed on to me, and are the basis of my own academic and professional career in computer science and information technology.

My father is deeply invested in his faith. Not "deeply religious" as such, since that phrase carries the connotation of being devoted to a church. Dad is indeed active with churches and other such organizations, but what I see most in him is the desire to live according to his faith. He's followed Biblical examples in many ways, including working with the homeless and prisoners, and being a missionary to foreign lands. Often things don't work out perfectly, of course, but that doesn't stop my dad from doing what he believes is God's will in his life.

I'm afraid I'll need to also admit to inheriting much of my sense of humor from my dad. The family car rarely passed a graveyard without hearing that "people are dying to get in there," and I don't have time to recount all the puns. Everyone has some bad "dad jokes" they remember from childhood, but I'm sure mine were the worst. (Just like you're sure that yours were.) If anyone has a problem with a terrible joke they heard from me, please direct the blame up a generation to my dad.

On this Father's Day, I'm several thousand miles and many time zones from my dad, so I can't visit in person. Fortunately, technology gives me the means to say "I love you" and "Happy Father's Day" from wherever we each happen to be. Love you, Dad!