Introducing 'Letters With My Father'

I’ve written online for 9 years now. I’ve garnered tens of thousands of followers, and written millions of words. But this…. this scares me.

A few weeks ago my Dad sent me a message.

“I have an idea. What do you think of a column where you and I discuss things that are relevant in family, relationship issues, day to day struggles, really any topic. We could bring up any topic and look at it from both our unique perspectives. I think we could help a lot of people.

I think people are starving to be heard, helped, and understood and we could use our relationship and perspectives to touch on all kinds of issues.”

I immediately loved the idea, but it seemed scary to me.

What would we uncover in the aim of honesty?

What would we share that would change, fundamentally, how we view the other person?

I always saw writing as a “safe space” where you’re allowed to share anything. Something pure. No filters.

This scared me because my Dad would get to see a whole other side of me. Would he be disappointed? Shocked? Would this do more harm than good?

Then I remembered this is my Dad we’re talking about. The guy doesn’t judge people who are being honest—he encourages it. As I thought about it more, I realized how good my Father would be at this writing thing.

He’s curious, open-minded, and loves deep discussions.

He’s also the most generous man I know. He always wants to help people. He’s never failed to be there when I needed someone to talk to.

He is a good man.

And he deserves to have a voice, too.

Without further ado, let me introduce you to my Father:

I’m a 60-year-old father of three adults and a husband of 39 years this year. And since 2022, a new grandfather! That’s what I’m most proud of. I’m a lover of music from the 50’s though the 80’s—and a huge Beatles fan. I’m blue collar and very proud of that. I do HVAC (what I’m licensed in) plumbing, electrical, and some interior finishing at a hospital in Baltimore that I’ve worked at for 30 years. I have a very strong spiritual side that’s part of who I am as well. I’m very aware that this has to be discussed in a way that’s sensitive. I’ve learned a lot in 40 years on this topic. I look forward to this discussion as I feel we’re all looking for meaning and purpose.

I’m a huge fan of my son. Many times he’s the teacher and I’m the pupil. We’ve had many deep discussions which was the inspiration to start this exchange of ideas with you, the audience. We see the pain a lot of us are in. We also enjoy life! We want this to be a family atmosphere where we can all see we’re in this life together. We want you to be a part of our family and hope you will let us be a part of yours. John Lennon said “It’s not the job of the artist to tell you how to feel, but to convey how we all feel.”

That’s what Tom and I want to do. These discussions will be brutally honest. They will make us cry and make us laugh. But in the end we’re all family, all of us, with our own stories and our own unique experiences. We look forward to sharing these with you. But it won’t just be that. It will be many topics. We’re going to expand this to just about everything. Maybe, just maybe, we can all be a comfort to each other in these trying times.

On behalf of both of us, welcome to Letters With My Father.