My father is a good,honest man.

My dad and I are incredibly close; I'm closer to my dad than my mom.  He's given me the best advice to go forward in life.

My father died a few days before my 13th birthday, after an 18 month battle with multiple myloma. He was a machinist, and a union activist, and spent a lot of time away from home working. But he always made time for me, and taught me both in words and by example. Much of what he did in his life away from his family I learned long after his death from his friends and colleagues. He was a tough man, a hard man, a ruthless man, and a good and decent man. I don't believe a day has passed in my life that I have not thought of him.

Has always been there for me.

Father is the greatest person in the world, the strongest person in the world, the smartest person in the world, until... teens come rolling. Now, father is OK, he is smart and great, but there are others in the world competing with him. Adolescence brings questions and doubts regarding whether what we used to believe is still valid or updated. In the late teens and early 20, father is an old fashioned, conservative, occasionally stupid and often ignorant. We know everything and need no advise or guidance. late 20s usually is when we become fathers and things start to change again. Kids makes us feel important, we are the greatest, the strongest, the smartest persons. We look up and see father, who is kind of laughing with a "wait a few years" kind of smile. Then, we become the old fashioned, conservative, occasionally stupid and often ignorant. And father keeps smiling. Just a short years later, we become friends with father, both feeling victims of life, LOL. And soon enough, we make room for our sons who are joining the pity party. And life goes on.