I AM MY FATHER'S SON

          I'll be stopping at a couple small Christian bookstore to see if they might be interested in carrying my books on consignment.  I haven't been up to Middletown is a little while.  Since my Dad passed away I have had no need.  When a parent dies life becomes a little bit more empty then it was before.  You'll never see that person again.  All you have are the memories shared.  Mine happen to be good memories.  Places we went, things we did together.  I am a richer person for having been my father's son.  He wasn't my best friend, nor was our relationship particularly close, but I had the ability to see him for who he was and realize that he did the best he knew how to be a father to me.  I call him my dad, but truthfully he was more of a father then a dad.  Once I left for college he really never contacted me, either by letter or phone.  Any contact we had was initiated by me and that was done out of a sense of duty.  I respected my father and credit him with teaching me, by example, how to be honest, truthful and have a high level of integrity.  At times in my adult life I failed in those areas, but when the dust settled on any given event, I always had that to fall back on.  I am my father's son and I am also, more importantly, a child of God.  rlk