Thanks Kyle! Yeah, I guess I had a pretty good pop. Oh wait, you're in Ohio...you probably think I'm talking about Dr. Pepper. He was a human so I'm sure he made his share of parenting mistakes, but I feel like I was lucky. Of course, he's been dead for a long time; I'm sure I tend to put him on a taller and taller pedestal with each passing year. He does seem to enjoy a good posthumous reputation among those who remember him though. I'm sure I'm being more vocal about him right now since this cancer thing has come up with my Mother. I didn't know my grandparents. My Dad was the youngest of five boys and 55 years of age when I was born. They were long gone before I arrived. I didn't know about the dynamics of that family until my Aunt told me my Grandfather had a predilection for inflicting abuse upon his children. He was also an architect in Alexandria. I have him to thank for all these damned steps. What a poop head. In a message dated 02/24/2000 9:42:32 AM Eastern Standard Time, [log in to unmask] writes: << Wow, Betty! Cool story! You've talked quite a bit about your dad recently. He sounds like he was quite a gracious and caring man. Too bad there are so few of them today--especially as fathers. When I read your posts about you and your mom and the difficulties you are having, I wonder how your dad would have handled the situation with, say, your Grandma if they had been in identical ciurcumstances? >>