Thomas Aquinas
Let's ignore the questions about the silly hat.
Instead, let's answer this -
Who's the guy getting the hug?
Well, he's a Humanitarian. And a Patron with Honors.
He's also the guy who helped me recover my relationship with my dad.
When I was a new staff member, one of the first counselling actions that I received was Key to Life. I distinctly remember modeling various life situations in clay and getting a chance to examine them.
One of the things that I had the opportunity to look at was my relationship with my father. Not unlike many young adults, I felt beset by difficulties on this front - although he was what I would now describe to be a kind and caring individual, at the time I didn't see things that way.
During this course of counselling, I came to the startling conclusion that my father was not the source of the problems in that relationship.... I was. This one shift in viewpoint lead directly to my calling him up and reconciling with him completely. I have no doubt that this one action is a key reason that my daughter has such a relationship with her "papa" that the first thing she does when she gets a new calendar is mark Grandparents Day - even before she marks her own birthday.
And so it is with good reason that I wish Chuck a very happy birthday tomorrow. I count him as a friend, as I hope that he considers that I am his friend.
