Thanks. Your words ring true so true for me. I hated my dad's addiction but I truly loved the man. Still it's sad that he wouldn't acknowledge that he loved me. But a novel by Louie Anderson The Letters of an Adult Child had a chapter in there that pretty much sums up a beautiful moment that he and his acoholic father came to terms with the question: Did you really love me. And from the grave Louie got his answer just like I believe I got mine. Yes son I loved you. It was like a huge rock had been lifted off my shoulders. And now I can go on and make him even more proud of me by growing my business in ways that I never thought possible. Cool, Huh?

Hi. Thanks for the kind and thoughtful words on this issue. Yes, I do need to remember the good times I had with my dad. It's hard though 'cause it's so hard to remember anything positive. Yet after searching my father's past having to do with his father I found out that he could've been Indian in nature. A member of the Black Foot Tribe. Which means that I have Indian blood running in me. WOW! So it turns out that my dad has given to me more than I realized in my life. I can use this bit of news to appoarch the Hopi's to see if I can get their permission to use their Kachina designs on my masks that I've been working on these past few years. I'm told that if I'm Indian too, they usually allow their Brother Indians leaway in matters like these. We shall see. But man just when you think you've got nothing to bargin with then something like this comes along and then you realize that you're not so uncommon and dull as you once thought you were.
Man what a bit of soild good news at a time that could really help out a person.