Happy Father's Day!

This one will be brief.

I'm a lucky man, and I've spent the day feeling very grateful for that, surrounded by my loved ones.

I've had a complicated relationship with my own father, but even in this, I'm luckier than many: he's survived to my middle age, where we've both come to realise that we have pretty much diametrically opposite views of our shared past, and that there's little to be gained by dwelling on that now.

This, in turn, has galvanised my commitment to my own children. I will make mistakes; likely many of them. But my children will know that I regret each and every one of them, and still love them with all my heart. They will know this because I will tell them. Often. Probably too often.

They will know how special they are to me. And that however badly this world and the people in it hurt them, betray them, disappoint them, I will be there to listen. And to share in what I hope will be their much-more-prevalent joys.

End of Day 41

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I'm writing this as part of the 100 Days To Offload project; join us at: https://100daystooffload.com/