Sons and Daughters (in this case, the latter)

When our children were small, like every Dad on the planet, I was a Master of the Universe. I was the long presence that appeared in their lives after the dunkel night time had arrived and who provided their mother someone else to boss around aside from them. The difference among us was that I needed the bossing way more than they did.

The father-son relationship is complex and mine is as good as it is because our son, Patrick, works very hard at it. In terms of his father, he doesn't have much to work with, so it succeeds as well as it does despite me.

The dad and daughter relationship in our case, me and Michelle, is saved because, as she's fond of saying she 'has her father's wit and her mother's charm.' (I originally had grace, but Michelle noted, below, I'd spazzed that out.) Actually she has all of her character attributes from her mother and my contribution to her genetic inheritance is whatever minimum heredity permits and that environment overcomes.

Every summer we catch one or more Connecticut Sun WNBA ballgames. They're our local team and they're right around the corner from our house, as the crow flies, and we have a lot of fun. Sometimes we even watch the games, now that they sometimes win them. The first three or so years we'd go and they'd get bombed but they have two Olympians on the squad and my favorite non-UConn player, Kara Lawson, and are more than pretty decent in regular season play.

They don't do well in the playoffs but we don't go to the play-offs. We hang out at a random game or two during the season and have a few laughs and talk basketball smack like either of us know what we're talking about.

Last night the Sun held on and held off the Liberty, 85-74. When she was small I used to help get play things off the top shelf in the living room, I was awesome. Now, she helps me take pictures at events with the camera in my phone because my Dotage R Us kit didn't include a manual. She is an adult and I am lucky she still allows me to be her father.

-bill kenny