November is National Family Caregivers Month, There are great challenges to being a caregiver for a loved-one. It can sometimes (and sometimes often) be a thankless and difficult job. We, at Ebenezer, celebrate those of you at home and in our communities and thank YOU for what you do.
 
First, more about Ebenezer's role, followed by some personal caregiving notes involving yours truly: Indeed, thank YOU for caring enough to GIVE care to loved-ones who need it and who definitely appreciate what you do. A major part of Ebenezer's mission and goal is to help caregivers achieve optimum results in their caring journey. In that regard, Ebenezer has resources that might be helpful to you in your journey. With over 100 years experience in helping people who need physical, as well as sometimes emotional and psychological, care, Ebenezer's suggestions and resources can certainly be trusted and welcomed.
 
Also, for caregivers, later this month, Thursday, November 14th from 3:30 to 5:00 p.m., you're invited to visit Stonehaven of Eagan to pick up your complimentary pie as a token of Ebenezer's appreciation for the love and care you give. Ebenezer recognizes the challenges family caregivers face and how you manage them, day and night, sometimes with little or no support. A goodie-bag of caregiver resources will also be available as you leave. Again, that's at Stonehaven of Eagan, 1000 Station Trail, Eagan, Minnesota.
 
My personal connection with caregiving, as both a caregiver and recipient, began in my pre-teens, when my maternal grandfather needed a lot of care and understanding for his increased alcoholism. My mother and I lived with him for seven years and dealing with his sometimes violent moods drove my mother to book her and me into a hotel for a weekend (many weekends throughout those years), just to get away from my grandfather, who both of us loved dearly and that made his after-drinking behavior so heart-wrenching. Then, at least four years into these less-than-pleasant living conditions, my mother decided to contact a professional caregiver who dealt with alcoholics. That was in the 1940s, when the availability of specialists was nowhere near the number available these days. The professional caregiver, along with my mother and me, eventually convinced my grandfather to not need the alcohol and life became much happier for all of us. Bottom line, in my opinion: Unless one has professional training as a caregiver, one should consult professional caregivers to know exactly what to do for any ailment that needs care. Sadly, my grandfather had consumed too much alcohol through the years and even though weaned completely away from alcohol and the errant behavior it caused, he died at age 70 from a liver disease connected to alcoholism.
 
My own personal health issues have been resolved throughout the years via the blessing of professional medicine, knowledgeable doctors who really cared, hospitalization, rehabilitation and love from so many family members and non-professional friends who cared enough to bolster my spirits via their expressions of encouragement and understanding. None of us should feel alone during times when caregiving is needed, but as recipients, we should always, in my opinion, realize caregiving, professional or not, is truly a full-time job for the caregiver, regardless of the degree of need. If you're a recipient of 24/7/365 success-oriented caregiving, please feel blessed and also know the care is being given because the persons giving the care TRULY care enough to want to make life as positive and stress-free as possible for you.
 
Again, Bravo and Brava to the caregivers not only during this annual National Family Caregivers month, but in perpetuity.
 
Thank you for reading, as always.

Happy week of Halloween, 2019! First, some history, followed by some personal memories:
 
Celebrated each year on October 31st, the tradition originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints. Soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve,and later Halloween, thus our annual celebration October 31st. Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating, carving jack-o-lanterns, festive gatherings, donning costumes and eating treats.

Borrowing from European traditions, Americans began to dress up in costumes and go house to house asking for food or money, a practice that eventually became today’s “trick-or-treat” tradition. Young women believed that on Halloween they could divine the name or appearance of their future husband by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings or mirrors.
 
Between 1920 and 1950, the centuries-old practice of trick-or-treating was revived after a few years when vandalism ruined the day and evening. Trick-or-treating was a relatively inexpensive way for an entire community to share the Halloween celebration. In theory, families could also prevent tricks being played on them by providing the neighborhood children with small treats. Thus, a new American tradition was born, and it has continued to grow. Today, Americans spend an estimated $6 billion annually on Halloween, making it the country’s second largest commercial holiday after Christmas.

For me, my earliest Halloween (originally spelled Hallowe'en) celebratory memory was when I was eight years old. Having been raised as an only child and only by my mother after my father left the household when I was 16 months old, my mother, for whatever reason, thought I was old enough to go trick-or-treating and it would be fun to dress me as a girl (including wearing lipstick!) for my first trick-or-treating foray with her accompanying me in our Pittsburgh neighborhood. That "costume" was to be my fate for the next three years. I liked the candy treats and even apples and oranges garnered during that annual adventure, but I definitely didn't like the "costume". I announced that to my mother and she immediately chose to have me dress as a pirate, eye-patch and all. She told me that was a tribute to our major league baseball team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Trick-or-treating was then much more fun for yours truly! (Although I loved her dearly, I made the candy-gathering rounds to the various neighborhood houses and apartments every October 31st thereafter without her accompaniment, from age 11 to 13, the last years I engaged in that annual ritual).

In later years, from my teens through even advanced years, I've enjoyed going to Halloween parties and dressing as much a pirate as I could or can! THAT memory and action remains!

My happiest Halloween memory was when I( was chosen in 1972 to be Grand Marshal of the Anoka, Minnesota Halloween Parade, as Anoka is known as the Halloween Capital of the World. It was an honor and indeed, my happiest Halloween memory.
​
Thanks for reading and have a Happy Halloween from all of your friends at Ebenezer.

In this blog, I'll express my 82-year-old opinions about what healthy aging means and looks like:

Physically, spiritually, socially, emotionally and mentally. In addition, I'll also alert you to where you can learn about how you can be helped to age healthier!
 
In my opinion, aging and how we handle it, is a combination of common sense and knowing how to cope with what the body and mind realistically encounter as we "all of a sudden" realize we're not in our teens or 20s. Most important, is knowing having good health is the most important thing we have. Following are some personal thoughts about good health and maintaining it at an advanced age:
 
PHYSICAL HEALTH - Again in my opinion, there's nothing more important than having good physical health. Even the slightest physical ailment can impede our daily lives. This, of course, is not news to you, but I think we can't be reminded enough how important it is to take care of ourselves as best we can. That means eating the most healthful foods.
EXERCISING daily (or when possible) and, when something as pedestrian as a cold strikes, we immediately take the correct medicines to end the problem as fast as possible. Having had numerous health issues in my life, several requiring hospitalization for near-death illnesses, I can identify with how important good health is and maintaining it by, as I mentioned, eating properly, exercising daily and taking whatever medications have been prescribed.

SPIRITUAL HEALTH - Regardless if times are good or bad for us, the power of prayer, for me, at least, has always provided peace of mind and, truthfully, it "works." I believe that daily prayer, even if only to thank the highest power for all the blessings one has, let alone to ask for solutions when needed, does provide a more healthful life.

SOCIAL HEALTH - We are social creatures and in later years we find ourselves more grateful for friends, be they new or longtime. Aside from just visits with friends, social activities such as playing cards and board games, bowling, going to live performances or movies and just talking, can enrich our lives and provide a healthier outlook on each day. Being and staying alone is not only sad, it's depressing and certainly doesn't fall under the "healthy aging" umbrella.

EMOTIONAL HEALTH - Learning to cope with or accept what life deals us, especially at advanced ages, isn't always easy, but for better emotional health, one thing I've learned is, with enough practice, one can look at whatever's been dealt with the attitude that "this is just another day" and tomorrow will be better. Learning to smile at anything adverse makes one stronger, even in the most unpleasant times.

MENTAL HEALTH - In my opinion, mental health is married to emotional health. Our emotions stem from mental acceptance or non-acceptance of what life provides, or doesn't, each day. To have better mental health, again in my opinion, one must eventually train oneself daily to not allow unpleasantness to ruin our thinking or our days. It isn't easy, but the more one does it the better one's mental health. In addition, the older we get the easier it is to do, speaking from experience here.
 
Thanks for reading, as always.

Both children and seniors learn from each other!
Intergenerational Programming is  an Ebenezer cornerstone--bringing together two generations who gather daily to visit, explore activities and develop a special kind of friendship. There is nothing quite like watching a child’s eye fill with wonder or a  senior’s face light up with joy.  In our Ebenezer Intergen communities we are lucky to experience both each day. Our whole child approach includes a unique program that brings young and old together in a stimulating co learning environment. Seniors and children share an unmistakable bond that transcends generations.
​
Ebenezer intergenerational programs invite children ages 6 weeks to 5 years old to enjoy the company of our loving Grandfriends.  The Intergen communities provides opportunities for the Seniors to bond with our youngest little ones, in our infant classrooms, with Rock a bye Baby time.  Seniors help our dedicated Teachers in providing 1:1 rocking time with our infants during the week. Grandfriends can enjoy special educational activities in Arts and Crafts, Science or Outside gardening with our fun toddlers or enjoy partnering up with a Preschooler in the Life Long Learning MacPhail Music program.

Our intergenerational space includes:

• A computer center
• Games, toys and puzzles
• A plentiful supply of books to read by the fireplace
• An area for arts and crafts
• Kitchen area for baking cookies
• Outdoor playground and patio​

 
Why It Works
​Building on Ebenezer’s faith-based heritage, our intergenerational program helps bridge the generation gap. Children learn respect for older adults and compassion for their physical limitations. Older adults maintain self-worth by sharing their lives and experiences. Children bring life, spirit and joy to seniors on the campus, keeping them young at heart. The attention and encouragement of seniors helps children flourish.
​
Our children are often fascinated as they learn about how the world was different, and what it was like to be a child in an earlier time. In turn, the children breathe happiness and life into our grandfriend communities--sharing their lives and experiences with their special friends. It is a mutually beneficial relationship, as the seniors are reinvigorated by the innocence and joy of the children, while the children learn respect, patience and helpfulness. Perhaps most importantly, our intergenerational programs teach children compassion and kindness. Students who grow up with grandfriends are not self-conscious around seniors in wheelchairs or walkers and are more comfortable when they encounter a senior who may act differently due to their advancing physical conditions. They view their grandfriends with reverence, and value their contributions to the past, present and future.
​
There is no question our Intergenerational communities provide a powerful impact to both the seniors and children each and every day.
Thanks for reading, as always.

It's good to be back doing my blog.  This week's blog is about how to navigate senior living options. 
 
First, a personal story about a life-changing event and one with which perhaps you can identify in regard to advanced-years decision-making:
 
Mother Nature sometimes throws us life-changing curve balls we never expected in regard to how we live our daily lives. It happened recently to yours truly. This past July 2nd, I was as healthy as anyone can be. The next day, I was admitted to the VA Hospital having contracted a mostly life-ending illness called CDIFF. None of us has any idea how I contracted that ugly illness, but we have some suspicions it may have been due to an antibiotic I received for a minor skin injury a week earlier. Regardless, following four weeks in the hospital and three weeks in a rehab facility, a doctor knew one of the three ways to rid me of the disease and I'm now strongly recovering at home.

Indeed, life sometimes has unpleasant surprises.

As someone who's just been through it, I can tell you that navigating senior care options can be confusing and at times overwhelming, especially if, like me, you are not feeling your best when you have to make those decisions. 

​I was happy to be released from the rehab facility to go back home for the rest of my recovery. Many people do not have that option. For those of us who may be needing or thinking of changing where we live our latter years, I can tell you  those surprises can be addressed with knowledge and caring by those with Ebenezer who specialize in helping solve any surprises life may throw at us.

Ebenezer understands the many challenges you face and they are happy to help you get through them, including the right time to make a plan for senior living. They can also discuss things that may happen in life that may let you know it's time to think about another living arrangement, or the need for additional help at home.
 
At any of our Ebenezer Communities, we have specialists who can help provide you with resources in our community as well as answer the following questions:

• When is the right time to plan for a move?
• What type of senior care is available to me?
• What should I be looking for in a new community?
• Are there funding options available to me?
• What to do if I am a Veteran or Spouse of Veteran?
• Can you help me understand Elderly Waiver and Government Assistance Programs?
• What State resources and senior care/housing resources can I count on?

But I want to live at home!
No worries. We want you to make decisions that best fit YOUR lifestyle. There are care options for those who want to remain at home.
 
With all the support that Ebenezer Communities can provide, it’s also important to know there are so many state and senior care/housing resources to which you have access. Here are a few:
 
Local Senior Living Communities (research first)

• County Aging Service Office
• Senior Commission/ACT on Alzheimer’s
• City Officials and Departments
• Senior Linkage Line – State run program that helps inform people about local resources and senior care options. Completely FREE and non-biased.
• Move Management Specialists - They will help create a plan with you prior to moving, pack up all belongings and move you to new location in the way that YOU want.
• Senior Real Estate Specialists – Aid in selling your home and specialize in working with older adults.
• Estate Sales – Help sort out the “stuff” that you do not want to bring with and sell it for you.
• Veterans Assistance – Aid in helping vets understand what benefits and programs they may be eligible to receive and walk through the process with them.

Find an Ebenezer Community near you today to help answer any questions you may have in navigating senior care options or resources. Please contact the community nearest you for help!
 
Thanks, as always, for reading.

As "sharp" as many of our minds are, especially those of us in our 70s, 80s and 90s...and possibly 100s...we realize the "sharpness" is sometimes dulled by occurrences we find it frustrating to experience or explain. The simplest explanation for some is "It's part of the aging process." For others, including yours truly, sometimes we stubbornly don't like that explanation and are determined to not admit to any mental performance inadequacies. The latter scenario is easier said than done, more of the time than we'd wish.
 
In regard to misplacing things, those who are experts in dealing with forgetfulness say it's "normal" at almost any age. Having been fortunate enough to have been exposed the past couple years to some studies about dementia (and Alzheimer’s), I learned if one forgets, for instance, where one has placed one's keys, it's not even close to being dementia. What IS close to identifying dementia is forgetting one even HAS keys. That, indeed, would be a red flag, to say the least and definitely worthy of expert professional help.
 
In regard to paranoia, it's a very disheartening, sad and very debilitating part of the human condition. It's also a close cousin to dementia's progression. When one becomes paranoid, the fears are almost always unfounded in reality, but our minds sometimes play very bad tricks with otherwise rational thinking. Many of us have had "mind games" develop. Those "games" may have sometimes led to suspicions about the actions of others, be they friends, acquaintances or just people in general. Those perceptions have most often no basis in reality and could, of course, lead to irrational and possibly dangerous reactive behavior. Once again, when one feels paranoia has overtaken rational thinking and behavior, it's common sense to want to seek professional help. 
 
Regarding dementia, we hear about it almost daily, but sometimes confuse it with Alzheimer’s disease. Two of my family members passed away from Alzheimer’s disease, which is the most common form of dementia (60 to 80 percent of cases, according to AARP’s Kathleen Fifield). In simplest terms, dementia is a non-reversible decline in mental function. Areas included in dementia are disorientation, disorganization, language impairment and memory loss, while Alzheimer’s (again, a form of dementia) slowly and irreversibly destroys memory and thinking skills.

or much more information about this subject, I respectfully defer to Ebenezer's Marysue Moses, MA, an expert specialist regarding the subject of dementia, its identification and treatment. Ms. Moses is Ebenezer's Dimensions Program Coordinator. You can read her helpful memory care blogs right here, or email her at mmoses1@fairview.org. Contacting and possibly visiting with Marysue would be, in my opinion, one of the most important contacts and visits one could ever make in regard to learning more about dementia and using that education to help better deal with the lives of those affected.
 
Thank you for reading, as always.

How to enjoy the company of friends, keep active and socialize with those around you. 
 I hope you're having a happy summer. I hope every season is happy for you, but summer, of course, is the time we're most prone to be connected with others because the warmer weather makes our sojourns and visits more comfortably "do-able." Even those of us lucky enough to be in "the public eye" are sometimes hopeful we'll be able to just visit and chat about anything as pedestrian as the weather. Wait a minute! What am I writing here? Just teasing, of course, about the weather, one of my favorite subjects that's propelled me to the honor and privilege of communicating weekly via these blogs. But, seriously, we know human beings are all social creatures. In my opinion, we truly need to communicate with others, having even a modicum of interaction in order to feel relevant individually and collectively.
 
Regardless of one's "position" on the social or status "ladder", even those on the highest rungs have the need to need and interact with one another. One of the most powerful examples of that need, in my opinion, focuses on the late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Raised in Patrician privilege and wealth, President Roosevelt nonetheless also had special needs after he contracted polio. Regardless of one's politics, seeing him in newsreels and photos bound to a wheelchair during this country's (and world's) most crucial times, he nonetheless showed us inner strength that catapulted him to being elected four times. During his final days, housed at the "winter White House" in Warm Springs, Georgia, again regardless of his power and independent wealth, it's been chronicled (more than once) he would often literally cry and cry-out, because of his loneliness. Indeed, even though incapacitated, he did have the requested company of his most sought-after friend, Lucy Mercer, during his final days, including the day he passed away, April 12, 1945. 
 
Did President Roosevelt's omnipotent stature, in every realm, replace his need for interaction and companionship? No, of course not, as illustrated during his final days of life. It, to me, illustrates no matter how "important" or "powerful" we are, we still all need each other and unless one has been so turned off by society and become a hermit, interacting socially with others is among the most important parts of being a human being. In my opinion, we should treasure all the times we're blessed with the opportunity to share stories, play games, take walks, watch favorite television shows and movies, with at least one other person. I've had many "alone times" in my life and they definitely were not the best times.
 
In my opinion, we should cherish the socialization available to us in our later years. Ebenezer's communities, now approaching 100 in number, provide that ongoing socialization opportunity and everyday catalyst for social interaction. Enjoy the summer. Enjoy the company of others. That company will definitely enrich your later years with more happiness and even, possibly, keep your mind in the learning lane. We should never stop learning and socializing with others will keep us in that "lane". 
 
Thanks for reading, as always.

What the news used to be and how it's evolved today
 
The news and the news business itself have always been a major part of my life. I was, to a degree, born into the broadcast news business, thanks to my second cousin, Cecil Brown, who was a significant part of what news used to be.
 
Cousin Cecil was one of Edward R. Murrow's "boys" as a war correspondent in London during World War Two, hired by Murrow shortly after a British ship, the HMS Repulse, was torpedoed in the South China Sea, aboard which Cecil was reporting for radio and newspapers during the torpedo attack, ten days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Murrow heard about cousin Cecil's near life-ending experience and offered him the London-based job with Murrow's CBS News operation there. Among the other "boys" with whom Cecil worked were Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid.
 
When I was a teenager in the 1950s in New York, Cecil, his wife Martha, my mother (raised with Cecil in Pittsburgh) and I would spend many private times together discussing the news and also listening to Cecil's commentaries on the ABC radio network. He was also ABC-TV’s first anchorman, in 1953. Cecil, now long-deceased, has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

​He concluded his professional years as Professor of Communication Arts at Cal Poly Pomona in southern California. In sum, he was a consummate and highly respected professional in the news business. I was blessed to have his tutelage, which would serve me well when I anchored news on both radio and television as part of my broadcast career.
 
News reported in the earliest days of radio and television was spoken and “delivered” with dignity, quality and importance by the newscasters and reporters, but also not sounding “holier than thou”. When they spoke, people listened. They were an inspiration to me and many others who became full-time news broadcasters. That was then, this is, sadly, now.
 
I write "sadly" because, in the late 1940s and early-to-mid 1950s, when CBS started its evening television newscasts with Douglas Edwards and NBC had John Cameron Swayze anchoring each program for 15 minutes, the entire nation stopped to watch and listen. It's not only because television was relatively new (debuting in 1948, nationally), but also because, once again, they were reporting the stories with importance and dignity in their voices. They were followed in the 1960s, through even the 1990s, by similar quality news people who included, in addition to the aforementioned Cronkite and Sevareid, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley, Frank Reynolds, Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel and Sam Donaldson. I was honored to have the late Huntley’s and Jennings’ personal friendships, in addition to the still living Koppel’s and Donaldson’s, with whom I still keep in touch. Today, in my opinion, more television newscasts, including network and cable, don’t seem to reflect that dignity nor evidence the newscasters do their "homework" deeply enough, nor seem to care how they deliver the information. The mispronunciation of words and place-names, plus poorly constructed sentences and disregard for dignity is rampant. Again in my opinion, audiences deserve much more quality to return to news presentations.
 
How did news reporting evolve from dignified to appearing unimportant, why has it been allowed to happen and should it matter? In my opinion, the primary answer to the question includes hiring many anchors/reporters with insufficient life and public communication experience by those currently leading the newsrooms of television and radio. Those leaders and reporters/anchors weren't part of  "the greatest generation" who were raised on news delivered importantly by those who knew how to do so. Again, all the preceding are only my opinions, but I think valid. Do any television anchors currently come close to matching the quality of yesteryear's news reporting? In my opinion, NBC-TV's Lester Holt is the only one of whom I can think. There's still hope!  
 
Thank you, as always, for reading.

A note to Caregivers doing a tough job 
One of the many peace-of-mind benefits of being an Ebenezer Community resident is knowing Fairview Caregiver Assurance is a part of the Ebenezer network and one of the many resources we offer. Fairview Caregiver Assurance helps Caregivers get the support they need to give the best care possible. As the headline notes, Caregivers caring for themselves as individuals is okay.

According to recently published professional journals, making the case for self-care for Caregivers is not only a luxury, but also a basic necessity for the person who cares for others, along with a few ideas to make it happen. Following are some hopefully helpful thoughts in regard to self-care for Caregivers:

Self-care literally and simply means caring for yourself, for your own needs. It’s a critical concept for caregiving. How can you possibly find time to take care of yourself? Even if you could, doing so often feels selfish. Self-care isn’t selfish – it’s critical. You need to maintain your physical, emotional and mental health, or you simply won’t be able to cope.

What Self-Care Is And ISN’T
Self-care has exploded on social media. Posts often talk about special ways to treat yourself, like the following.

• Take a bubble bath
• Treat yourself to a spa day
• Buy some expensive chocolate
• Put aside an evening to watch TV with snacks
• Eat amazing meals
• Listen to music
• Journal
• Meditate or do yoga

These are all amazing ways to do self-care.
But, self-care also exists in the smaller things, in the areas that are less obvious and less dramatic. That type of self-care is often more important. As an example, for people with depression, self-care is often as simple as taking a shower and dressing well each day (regardless of whether you’re going anywhere or not). Doing the housework might be another form of self-care. There are many other examples.

The idea is to focus on your own needs. Those might be physical, social or emotional. Doing this consistently helps you to grow and to cope better. You end up being a more effective self-care giver too. 

Finding Your Balance
There are countless self-care lists out there. They all highlight various things that you should and should not do. This includes ideas like getting at least 7 hours of sleep each night, going for a short walk each day, buying treats, and the like. But, reality isn’t always that straightforward. You need to find approaches that work in your given situation.

For example, getting a full night of sleep is sometimes impossible. One suggestion: Attempt to nap during the day. It isn’t a perfect solution, far from it. But, napping is a form of self-care and one that frequently works.

The same applies to other areas, like exercise. Did you know that even small bouts of exercise add up? It’s true. Exercising for five or ten minutes at a time can have dramatic impacts on your health. This might mean getting up and dancing to your favorite music or taking brisk regular walks around the house. Or, it might mean something entirely different.
But, whatever you do, find your solutions.

Find the versions of self-care that work for you – whatever they happen to look like. And don’t worry about what others might think. Honestly, people judge each other for the weirdest things and you’re never going to please everyone. Focus on your situation and your needs instead.

Thanks for reading, as always.

 (Ebenezer celebrates fathers all around Ebenezer communities on this special day)
 
For me, what it means to be a father has always included the realization of parental responsibilities that include having the children know they're unconditionally loved, protecting them from harm as much as possible, instilling in them awareness of their importance as human beings and providing role-model guidance to teach them right from wrong. They also should know the most significant and heartwarming lifetime occurrence provided ME were their births and subsequent lives, making me so genuinely proud of the two daughters I was blessed to help create.
 
Losing my younger daughter to ovarian cancer at her young age, 54, August 30, 2017, has made each Father's Day since then very bittersweet. I know I'll never be able to accept the fact she's gone and the pain of her loss permanent. I also need to accept the fact she made the world a much better place and was the extraordinarily wonderful human being she was, making EVERY day Father's Day.
 
Aside from that sadness that perpetually permeates, I still have the privilege and joy to know my other child is still alive. She just celebrated her 58th birthday. What maximum reality and epiphany can life bring to a man than being the male-side of being responsible for the creation of a human being? I think the answer is "None".
 
Some additional thoughts about what it means to be a father, at least THIS father:
- Seeing and holding those dear, innocent babies for the first time, it generated being more convinced than ever there's something in this universe far beyond what we can comprehend and are perhaps not supposed to.
- Watching and enjoying the wonderment of the children's development: From crawling to walking to running; from playing with Tinkertoys to blocks to board games; from hearing their joyful sounds emerging while learning to talk to becoming truly articulate adults; from tricycle-riding to bicycle-riding to learning how to drive; from the anticipation of attending young friends birthday parties to birthday parties of their own; from their first days in nursery school to preparation for and graduations from, grade school and high school and all the years of education that encompassed those significant times.
- Experiencing their reactions to what made them happy or motivated them to think more about life while watching live theater productions, television and movies.They truly had me living life vicariously through them during those special growth times. ALL times with them were special and still ARE with my one remaining child/daughter.
- Seeing them emerge from toddlers to children to adults and all the nuances and occurrences that were parts of those years and being so infinitely proud to just BE with them as they developed and became the truly wonderful women and mothers they'd become.
 
It would be impossible, for me, at least, to fully-describe the honor it has been to be the father of the two wonderful daughters who blessed my life. They also blessed me (and their mother, of course), with a total of four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
 
If what I've described in regard to what it means to be a father has been perhaps too sentimental, I respectfully apologize, but what I've written has been honestly, with my heartfelt feelings stated. For any fathers reading this, I think what I've expressed may have covered many of YOUR thoughts, too. Happy Fathers Day and thank you for reading, as always.