What Is A Father

           A father is a person who is forced to endure
           childbirth without an anesthetic. He growls
           when he feels good and laughs very loud when
           he is scared half-to-death.

           A father never feels entirely worthy of the
           worship in a child's eyes. He is never quite
           the hero his daughter thinks. Never quite the
           man his son believes him to be. And this worries
           him sometimes. (So he works too hard to try to
           smooth the rough places in the road of those of
           his own who will follow him).

           A father is a person who goes to war some-
           times… and would run the other way except
           that war is part of an important job in his life
           (which is making the world better for his children
           than it has been for him).

           Fathers grow older faster than other people,
           because they, in other wars, have to stand at the
           airport and wave goodbye to the uniform that
           climbs on board the plane.

           And, while mothers cry where it shows, fathers
           stand and beam… outside… as they endure the
           pain inside.

           Fathers are men who give duaghters away to
           other men who aren't nearly good enough, so
           they can have children that are smarter than
           anybody's.

           Fathers fight dragons almost daily. They hurry
           away from the breakfast table off to the big
           arena, which is sometimes called an office or
           a workshop. There they tackle the dragon with
           three heads: Weariness, Works, and Monotony.
           And they never quite win the fight, but they
           never give up.

           Knights in shining armor; fathers in shiny
           trousers. There's little difference as they
           march away each workday.

           And when a Father passes away, and after a
           good rest, he won't just sit on a cloud and
           wait for the girl he's loved and the children
           she bore. He'll be busy there too… repairing
           the stars, oiling the gates, and in general
           helping smoothe the way for others.

           Author Unknown