What Your Father Gives You -- Your Name...

On Father's Day -- I'm always reminded of the gift every Dad gives their kids -- their NAME.

That's my Dad in the photo above, he's on the right, sitting next to Al Kaline who is sitting next to Harvey Kuehn in the Detroit Tiger's dugout...

This is one of my "two" all-time favorite poems...

Your Family Name

You got it from your father
It was all he had to give
So it's yours to use and cherish
For as long as you may live

If you lost the watch he gave you
It can always be replaced;
But a black mark on your name
Can never be erased

It was clean the day you took it
And a worthy name to bear
When he got it from his father
There was no dishonor there

So make sure you guard it wisely
After all is said and done
You'll be glad the name is spotless
When you give it to your son

Happy Father's Day to My Dad & All the Dads!

This is a photo of my Dad (in the middle) celebrating the news, with four of his teammates, that he had just become a Dad for the first time!

He was a professional baseball player and in the middle of a road trip when word got to the team that I was born.  Back in the "good old days" baseball teams didn't allow you to stay home for the birth of a child.  Thankfully, those days are in the past...

I've been very lucky to have a wonderful Dad in my life -- who is as big of a Notre Dame fan as me!

Happy Father's Day -- DAD!

On a side note -- I had never seen this photo until a week ago.  My Aunt Barb found this in a box and gave it to my cousin Mike Doyle to text it to me to see if I could identify who was in the photo with my Dad.