Ever since I was a wee lad, I have always looked up to my dad. He was an excellent football coach, a fair administrator, still a gentleman, a loving father, decent husband and my most trusted adviser. Not only do I admire him for these admirable qualities, but I also look up to him because he is taller than I am.

I have a son of my own now. Well, actually he's been around for 13 years. As my wife is Japanese and I am not, this child has been a bridge between two racially different families, two very different countries and two diverse cultures. He is equally one half of each and the sum total of both. Needless to say, he is very precious to all who know him.

I was fortunate to be in the next room at the hospital on my wife's birthday 13 years ago when Ren, my son, came into this world. Just minutes before, I was helping my wife settle into her appointed room where she was to wait for the anticipated birth her doctor had informed her to expect later that day.