Their mother still lives, and I have endeavored to ensure my sons know both the parents God or gods gave them, and since they were very young they don't remember being shot at by their mother's family or anything about the divorce and custody decree, so they have great love and affection for their mother.

I have concluded from my own life that I was not hammered out of the events of my life, but am who I am despite them. While our experiences teach us, they do not make us who we are, and my sons merit their own success which they have themselves created. While homeschooling gave them many advantages over their peers, it didn't make their persons, which they are by God or gods' graces. My own father, when I pressed him on the matter of investment in my upbringing in early adolescence said 'You have food in your belly, a shirt on your back, and a roof over your head. My job is done.' I found this inadequate for my role as a father, yet my own constant investment in the upbringing of my sons didn't make them who they are any more than my own father's lack of it did me. Eventually I have come to realize my father was right, although he shortchanged himself by not enjoying the many teaching moments father's have opportunities to when rearing their spawn.

Being a father has defined me, and while no father is without regrets, I am proud of nothing as much as I am being a father.