Father's Day

This year Father's Day is a little different. As long as my father was alive, I celebrated it two dimensionally: as a father to my boys and as my father's son. My Dad died on December 9 so I mark this father's day as a father only.

There is a sense of loss, of being incomplete. My Dad was my hero because of his loyalty and devotion to his family. He went to Europe in WWII and, after he returned home, he hardly ever left our town, even to go to New Jersey! But his devotion to all of us and my mother, his unconditional love and concern have shaped me beyond description. We didn't talk much but we didn't have to: I knew that I occupied a large part of his heart. And, this weekend, I realize how much of my heart he occupied.

Now, as a father only this weekend, I reflect on my boys: their own individuality, their personal courage, their intelligence, their decency, their generosity and their devotion to each other and the people they love. And I am awed by them! I can never replace my Dad but I hope, in some small way, that I can be to them what he was to me.

This picture brings things almost full circle. It was taken in front of the Cathedral in Monopoli, the town where my grandfather was born. We all have traces of our fathers and their fathers and their fathers and ...