[IlPug]

My dad is awesome.

Very smart guy, not an outrageous IQ or anything, but high. He can talk accurately about just about anything (science might be the exception, but even then he's accurate, if not precise). So he's totally geeky (like me) but at the same time a total jock (my uncle told me he had the talent to play pro baseball when he was younger, but decided it wasn't what he wanted to do with his life, apparently). He's got really strong genes, then, because he has 6 kids, from 3 wives, all of whom look like him, and have the same sense of humor. Also we're all geeky/jocky. My older brother lettered in Basketball, Football and Baseball, and was offered scholarships to college for all three. Genes, heh. He's also very Republican, seriously like a real life Denny Crane. Sometimes even I can't tell if he's as right-wing as he says or if he's just making fun of people who think he's that right-wing. I remember asking him why he joined the army during Vietnam (he went to college to become a teacher, and his dad and brother were both farmers, so he coulda stayed out, I think) and he said something like, 'I was the best guy for the job - wasn't gonna let some other poor [censored] get shot up for something I could do.' (how and why he felt that way I haven't quite figured out yet, but he still had the balls to serve when he definitely had other options, and this is something I still don't think I have the balls to do.)

He's been working for the government now since he finished college, not making much money doing it, but truly loving what he does. I remember once, when living in the Philippines and working with the embassy there, there was a guy who kept driving by our house, 2 times or so a day, almost everyday for about a week. The security guard at the house told my dad about it, and my dad told him to let him know if he drove by again (if my dad was home) and got surveillance on the house from the embassy. So, the van is parked outside the house that night, and the marines at the embassy are put on alert. Sure enough, the next day as my dad is leaving for work, the security guard yells out 'Sir, thats him!' pointing to a car that drove past. My dad screeches out of the driveway, coffee cup still on the roof of the car and chases the guy down. The surveillance team follow, and my dad does one of those cool, right out of a movie, overtake and stop infront of the car so the dude couldn't get away-things. He pulls his gun, orders the guy out of the car, does the Groucho march up to him, cuffs him. The marine-security detail turn up a little while later and my dad is sitting on the trunk next to the guy (in cuffs) and says 'Never send a marine detail, when an army man will do'. Turns out the poor bastard's wife was having an affair with a white guy who lived on our street. Lived two houses down from us, and he thought my dad was the guy. He was also friends with the former president of the Philippines and then Vice-president, Joseph Estrada (who was recently pardoned for the crimes he was impeached for - my dad has maintained his innocence the whole way), who came to all his birthday parties and social gatherings, and was always ready to enjoy a good steak, some whisky and a cigar with my pop. It was a strange relationship from the Filipino press' point of view, as 'Uncle Erap', as we called him, as always very anti-American in his politics, but was best friends with a man who was pretty high up in terms of Americans stationed in the country and is a very proud American. Erap always wanted to be godfather to us, but, as my mom was buddhist (and married to a man with conservative blood running through his veins!? no wonder it didn't work) we were never baptized. Anyway, my dad's a badass, I have other stories but think they'll have to wait till he retires.

He's been married 4 times now, and women, you might say, are his one glaring flaw. He never cheated on my mom, I don't think (believe me, if she even suspected it, she would have made SURE me and my siblings knew it), and has great relationships with all of his kids, even though we're all-over the world and don't see him all that often. He's always there to talk to on the phone, or chat with on MSN, sends out weekly emails with things he's found funny during the week. His latest wife is a very good looking woman (objectively speaking, no oedipus complex here, I swear) 15 years his junior and is absolutely and totally in love with him. They just had a little girl who just turned one! (pimp!)

He's always been honest, very loving, and well spoken. He's instilled in all his kids (I think) great moral and ethical values. He's always been a great father, if he wasn't always a great husband. I'm definitely proud to call him 'Dad' and he's showed me what it means to be a man.