Happy Father's Day, Dad

Dad and Claire in London, April 2014

When I was a kid, I didn't know what my father did for work.  He liked his work, and he seemed to do it a lot...he left for work at 7:30 in the morning and came back at 7:30 at night. And he traveled too. Sometimes it seemed like he was gone all week and only back at the weekend.  I remember a lot of sweatshirts from colleges around the U.S., too.

It was only later that I figured out what he did, and realized it's not that different from what I do today. The applications were different, but really Dad was a researcher, an interviewer, an ethnographer - he traveled to companies, figured out what their underlying motivations were, then talked to people at universities and heard their stories of how the chemical or environmental substance he was interested in behaved under various conditions. And then instead of writing an academic paper about it (like me) he developed a coherent story and put on a Spectacular Spectacular, with a vast supporting cast (thank you Moulin Rouge: Youtube Clip Here) and with some Razzle Dazzle (Chicago, the Musical: Youtube Clip Here). And voila, a magical settlement. A bit more exciting than your average corporate attorney, don't you think? But we always knew Dad was special.

Now that I've had the chance to see Dad as his alter-ego "Papa" (He and Nana decided 6 years ago that they weren't the Grandpa and Grandma type). I've had the chance to enjoy all the bits I don't remember from being a kid (I have a really poor memory of most everything before I was about 9) - dad making silly faces and sounds with the girls, singing "The Noble Duke of York" and bouncing them on his foot, reading endless numbers of books and generally entertaining them by being Papa.

I see your influence (not to mention your face) when I look at myself and what I'm doing, and especially when I look at how Audrey and Claire are growing up to be like you, too. Love you, Dad - Happy Father's Day!