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We appreciate your honest and emotional stories about your dads and dads that you know and respect. Please continue to send, and, or e-mail them to us. The following letters reflect excerpts from a few of your letters that we received.dadsmag@aol.com
Dear Mr. Scott,
Several years ago, my oldest son put me in a dilemma. He asked me to coach his soccer team! I was staring face-to-face with an opportunity to help my son learn teamwork, sportsmanship, fitness, fun and success, but I didn't even know the rules of soccer, no less how to coach the sport. But the opportunity was too great to pass up, so I took the plunge into the world of volunteer coaching. The result has been extremely rewarding time with all three of my children as I have coached their various their various sports teams...
Mark Carpenter
Sandy, Utah
Dear Mr. Scott,
Alan Winick is a single father of two boys, vice-president of a company and creator of the Explorer Submarine, a one-man submarine that visits schools to help children learn about the marine environment. It all started when he was 11 years old when he, (Winick), and a friend decided to build a submarine in his living room. He put the dream aside as he approached adulthood, but after losing his wife to breast cancer, he and his two sons, ages 12 and 8, found that working on the sub offered the creative outlet that they needed. The sub is housed and on display a the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk, Connecticut...
Mali R. Schantz-Feld
Seminole, Florida
Dear Mr. Scott,
Fathers bond with their children in many ways. The most memorable times of my relationship with my Father were when we went fishing. Armed with poles and a large tomato can filled with worms, (night crawlers), we climbed into Dad's Royal Blue 1935 Plymouth and set forth for Jamesville Reservoir. It was a short drive through hilly countryside dotted with farmhouses, bright red barns, and majestic silos pointing skyward, like rockets waiting to be launched. Dad always let me row the boat. I guided the boat carefully away from the dock and headed for our lucky spot. It was a perfect day for fishing. We both caught our limit. Dad caught the first fish, but I caught the biggest. My dad and I spend many enjoyable years together, but the most cherished moments were those Sundays spent fishing at Jamesville Reservoir.
James, Doctor "G", Giangobbe, M.D
Litchfield Park, Arizona
Dear Mr. Scott,
I am an elementary school teacher, and a father of three. I wrote this to my newborn daughter: Willa Marie, you are three months old now and I need to get something off my chest. When I hold you as you sleep on a quiet afternoon, I must seem like warmth and strength personified. When I transform your nighttime cries and wails into whimpers and gurgles of trust, I am the Rock of Gibraltar to you. And sometimes at night when you're sleeping, I look down at you, put my heavy hand upon your back, and listen to your breathing. At times like that I feel like God himself looking down on his creation.
Some day you'll know, you'll see for yourself, so I might as well tell you now. I am no pillar of strength, no Rock of Gibraltar, and heaven knows I am not almighty...When I learned you were coming, the workshop of my psyche had incomplete projects all over. There were parts and pieces strewn left and right and sawdust covered the floor. How could I raise a baby when I grappled with my own insecurities? There was no way around it. You weren't going to wait. Now you're here and all my doubts and fears about fathering are getting a workout. And a funny thing is happening. My fears are fading and in their place strong, abiding feelings of love and attachment thrive.
When I hold you and we look into each other's eyes, I think you sense how deep and intense my love is for you. I feel a connection unlike anything I've ever felt before.
Michael Leannah
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Dear Mr. Scott,
How often in a 24 hour period do you feel like you're going to go absolutely nuts over your kids? Me...at least half a dozen times a day, and that's just before my seven year old son and my wife get home! My darling daughters do everything in their power to see how much more they can do to their Daddy. Like when they toilet paper the living room. Sometimes I fantasize about having the bathroom to myself, or going down the stairs without stepping on a Poke'mon!
Jason Meuschke
Minot AFB, North Dakota
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