Growing up my dad always worked crazy hours, and I rarely ever saw him awake, because he'd be hopping from second to third shift left and right, so he'd be at work when I came home from school, or he'd be asleep getting ready to go in, ect ect. It wasn't until I was in the 7th grade that I actually ever got to really spend time with my dad; but only because he became disabled due to an accident at work and had two massive surgeries on his spine to repair the damage; both of which left him in pain for the rest of his life.

My teenage years were a bitch because of my dad wasn't on pain killers, then he wasn't. So I either dealt with a dad who was on pain medication (I'm sure you can all imagine what someone on pain killers acts like on a normal basis) or I was dealing with a man who was touchy, bitching about the smallest things, and constantly yelling about something.

That affected me a lot more than I thought it did, and I picked up a LOT of his tendencies into my late teens (my aggression, rage, anger management issues, ect) that I spent the better part of 4 years working on them.

But he was always there for me. I never once wished I had a different father, and I never looked down on him for anything he ever did. Now my dad's 58, is still off-and-on from pain killers, has had 4 strokes, can barely walk, and is starting dementia.

I guess I'd want to be the kind of father he was whenever I have children. He was always there for me enough for it to matter; he took me places, bought me little things here or there (some type of soda, ect) and always made me feel good when I was a kid. I have fond memories of loving my dad dearly, even if I only REALLY saw him once or twice a week.

I already know that, the career path I'm on, will lead me down the same road; crazy, long hours, little home time spent awake, ect, and I only hope I can be as good of a father as my dad was to me.