Being a father to a son...hoping your footprints lead him in the right direction, knowing he's watching you for clues on how to be a man, remembering all of the outside influences that can be so distracting to a boy growing up...that's got to be tough enough when you have one son, but imagine if you had nine sets of eyes watching you, depending on you. Oh, man, the pressure! But my father-in-law did it; he raised nine baby boys into nine good men (with lots of help from my mother-in-law, of course!)
He turned 80 this week. That's so hard to believe! Except for a pacemaker - a recent acquisition - he's still the same energetic, feisty sweetheart I remember meeting almost 28 years ago.
There's no doubt he was a strict father - how else could he keep chaos at bay with nine boys under one roof? But to me he's always been a twinkle-eyed softy who always met us at the airport with a couple of cold beers (now a glass of red wine for me)... always laughing, teasing, helping, and hugging.
The men he raised aren't perfect, thank goodness - they're human, after all - but they are all good men - hard-working, honest, responsible, trustworthy, fun-loving, passionate and competitive.
Just like their father.
Mom and Pop with the first seven...
Pop dancing with Tom at our wedding...
Mom and Pop together with all of the boys at our house, 2007...
Pop (on the far left dressed in flags) at breakfast with half his brood and their families, and relaxing in Mom's chair this past July, despite the chaos...
Happy 80th Birthday, Pop! And many, many more!
