Father's Day

Years ago on a Father's Day Sunday in church, the priest told this homily. It's always stuck with me on the importance of strong male role models.

The story goes...A card company decided one Mother's Day to take some of their cards to a local prison so that inmates could write to their mothers. They set up a table with the cards and the inmates lined up by the hundreds. The card company even had to go back to their warehouse for more cards, they'd not brought enough. The Mother's Day event was a huge success. When Father's Day rolled around, the card company decided to revist the prison and brought plenty of Father's Day cards this time. However not one of the inmates lined up to send a Father's Day card.

My own father has always been a major influence in my life. He was my first art teacher, showing me how to draw, watercolor, and see the world with an artistic eye. He's always encouraged my creativity and even today, will stand next to me in my studio and want to see what I'm making. Just over a month ago, my dad was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Our Father's Day will be particularly bittersweet, not knowing if this will be our last one with him. We've been living every day that way lately, letting him know how much we love and appreciate him, caring for him, taking the time to make sure he's comfortable and pain-free. It's how we all should live every day with those we love.

Here is a photo of my dad, taken last week on our trip to Disneyland.