Yesterday was Father's Day.  My father passed away in 2000, so I haven't had a father to celebrate Father's Day with for a while.

My father wasn't the best father on earth, nor was he the worst.  He got up each day and went to work at a job he couldn't stand in order to support his wife and 7 kids.

He taught us how to ride bikes, and how to ice skate. He carved the Halloween pumpkins after all 7 of us kids had a chance to offer our ideas on how it should look.  How we ever agreed on one design amazes me, now that I think about it.

He bought the Christmas trees and set them up; even though he didn't really like Christmas.

He was the family doctor, we only went to the real doctor if we were really, really, really sick.

He could be very gentle and very patient, and he could also erupt like an angry volcano without much warning.

He did some things that have been very hard to forgive.

But, I have forgiven him for the most part.

Since,  I am a parent myself, I understand my parents better, and it is easier to forgive them for their mistakes, and lapses of judgement.

I think, fathers, are just like anyone else.  They aren't perfect, even though we wish they were.  They are human. They can be wonderful, they can be horrible, and everything in between;  but at the end of the day, they are our fathers for better or worse. 

And we need to make the most of it; and deal with that fact the best way we can; no matter what kind of father we ended up with.