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Fatherhood, part II

A couple of weeks ago, I penned a column about how I though the state should change its child custody laws.

I spelled out what I thought was wrong with the system and offered some suggestions for fixing it up.

And by the message I received, you would have though I suggested canceling the football program a the University of Oklahoma.

Yes, the defecation struck the rotary oscillator.

I’m sure the computer guys here at the newspaper weren’t too happy with the quantity of e-mail I received because of that column.

I published one response — well written and thought out — but many of the others were (even for me) a little too crass for a family newspaper.

I was especially fond of the one which questioned the legality of my birth and my mother’s moral standards.

Anyway, the column caused a big ruckus.

Good.

Because I meant everything I wrote. (I can almost hear those keyboards clicking now).

So, because I’m so good at causing a fight, I thought I’d revisit the subject this week. Only this time, I’m not going to repeat my call to ditch Oklahoma’s useless child custody system.

This week, I’d rather discuss fatherhood.

Or, if you will, the art of being a Dad.

Here where I work, one of my co-workers, a tall chap named Christian, is the perfect example of decent, hardworking Dad.

Granted, Christian hasn’t had the best luck with the opposite sex, but despite his divorces, he’s a great father.

His kids are polite, they smile, they laugh and you know they live in a home where they are loved.

Christian talks about them all the time.

You can watch his face light up and he tells me about his son’s soccer game or stories about his daughter and her passage from being a pre-teen into a teenager.

I watch him smile as he talks about the smallest member of the family, who’s not yet five.

Yeah, Christian gives a damn.

He cares about his kids. And he takes care of his kids.

He makes sure they are well fed, they do their homework and they understand right from wrong.

He also makes sure each child knows how much they are loved.

Most of you probably won’t ever get the chance to meet Christian. Heck, unless you were introduced, you probably wouldn’t know him from Adam.

Too bad, too.

Because Christian is the type of Dad that you should meet.

He’s the perfect example to use when you hear all that crap about how a single Dad can’t be as good a parent as a single Mom.

We all can learn a lot from guys like Christian.

Patience, humor and the ability to remember that kids — even at their best — are going to drive you nuts sometimes; these things Christian has in abundance.

His kids are lucky.

By the time they reach their adult lives, they’ll be well prepared for the world and all its challenges.

Why? Because of their Dad.

Because of Christian.

Like I said before, I’m not going to apologize for believing the child custody system in Oklahoma is screwed up and needs to be overhauled.

And I’m not going to back down on what I think needs to be done.

But please believe me when I say, we wouldn’t have to worry about a thing if more Dads were like my buddy Christian.

Because he knows that nothing can replace a decent, caring father.

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