About Fathers

I guess I've been thinking about this because a friend's father passed away a couple of weeks ago. It made me think about my father. It's a sad story, and without retelling the whole tale, the bottom line is that I didn't know him very well and he died unexpectedly about seven years ago.

I have realized that I never really thought of him as a father. And not because I had a different father figure instead. I just didn't have one at all. Without really taking the time to analyze why, I always felt fatherless. Like I sprang forth from nowhere, like Athena from the head of Zeus. Physically, it's obvious that my dad had some genetic impact on me. My skin is a bit darker than my Mom's, I am short like he was, I have a different nose. But, I have never once wondered what part of my character I got from him. I don't know what that says about me or him. Just something that occurred to me...