A Good Man
A moment of personal reflection.
This post doesn’t belong on Substack.
Not my Substack, anyway. People who follow me expect gaming content, plain and simple. This post, rather, is all about my dad.
My dad was a good man. I say that knowing that not everyone will agree with that statement, or the sentiment behind it. Not everyone in my family liked him. Some had a hard time. A really hard time. I had it easy. I was the youngest of eight. My dad was old, slower, and had suffered a heart attack. It was too much effort to discipline me. It was a risk.
Not that I was a bad kid. All things considered, I think I was pretty decent. I don’t recall misbehaving much until I was in high school, and by then I was too old really to spank.
But that’s not what this post is about. As I said, my dad was a good man. He certainly tried to be. He tried to provide for us, and he did. We weren’t wealthy…far from it…but we had a roof over our heads, food on the table, and color tv. And cable. What more did we need?
My dad used to drive me all over the place. I started playing D&D when I was 8 years old, and I spent the next 10 years running games practically every weekend. Never at my house but always other friends’ houses. And sometimes i’d forget to bring some books I needed, and no matter what time it was, my dad would grab what I needed and drop it off for me at my friend’s house.
He was a good man.
My dad developed dementia later on in life, and in December of 2016, he passed away.
Tomorrow is Father’s Day. I miss him terribly. He’s always on my mind, and frequently visits me in my dreams.
He was so supportive of me. Of my gaming.
A week after he passed, I published my first gaming product: Santa is Dead, on DrivethruRPG. It was nominated for an Ennie the following summer.
I would’ve loved to have been successful and had my dad see my success, for him to have been around, to celebrate that success with me. But I realize he’s proud of me, no matter what I’m doing. And that makes me happy.
Happy Father’s Day, everyone.