A tale of men.

LK-LK is my biological father. His genetics make me half Norwegian. Short with red hair. And possibly the reason why I have Crohns disease as he has Ulcerative Colitis. I don't know the whole, true story of how it all broke down but I know he got my mom pregnant in high school and then wasn't around after the fact. I reached out to him a few years ago and we've met in person and still talk occasionally. I'd say we are friends.

But what has been most interesting to me is to see how he and his family have had to deal with the revelation of my existence. How something from soooo long ago and still effect you now. Everything happens for a reason. We all make mistakes. You've heard all those things before.

All I know now is he seems to have tried the rest of his life to be a good dad to the kids he did raise and genuinely seems contrite over what I'm sure was truly a tough situation when he was a teenager. I of course hold no judgment against him and hope he forgives himself as well.

TCB-TCB is my dad. The person who raised me. Neither he or my mom graduated from college. They had to make it in life with hard physical work. As there were 4 of us kids and I became a financial and medical nightmare at age 10 or 11 with my mom a stay at home mother, things were tough for dad. This may sound unfair, but most of my memories of dad are him working. Always working and never at home.

But he had to. When you gotta build a fence at the dentists house to pay the bill, you know you are working to survive. So I guess without trying that is the number one thing I learned from TCB is hard work. How to relentlessly move forward. Push push push go go go. I do no honestly think my dad has ever quit anything in his life.

He may not have taught me anything about sports but my dad taught me how to be a responsible gun owner, how to keep my tools properly,how to do home repairs and work on my cars, to balance my finances; taking care of needs first and then my wants, the importance of doing your duty. Some good life skills.

Both LK and TCB have taught me that you can change. And that through his life a man should change for the better. You can be a long haired, rock guitar playing, draft dodging, red neck hippie and evolve into a dedicated, white collar professional, Christian (in the good way), family man. If that's not a 180 I don't know what is.....?

TJB-This is my brother. In many ways I think he is a photocopy of TCB. Especially the good parts. My brother has taught me that your gpa doesn't always reflect how smart you really are. And that there can be a mix of fun and seriousness that doesn't have to contradictory or difficult to balance in your life. I guess he is proof to me that you can do it, be it and have it all.

BIL's-My brothers in law. The dude's who married my sisters. Good luck with that guys! hahaha. Serious, I'm thankful for the love you show my sisters. And even though one of you gave me a concussion I still wish we could hang out more.

JW-Dude, I would have never thought you'd be the perfect piece to complete Jeweled Malicious Barbie's puzzle. But you seem to be and I'm proud to have you in the family. I look forward to years of knowing you more.

GC-Wow, talk about stepping into an instant family. Any guy that marries a woman who already has been married and divorced with 3 kids is showing the type of love and toughness few men have today. I give you my true respect and really am thankful for what you've done, though I know it was tough.

RMB-Myself. Me. I'm unsure of how much to reveal about myself here in this particular area as frankly I'm not to proud of much of my history as an adult male. If you drew up columns of good and bad I'd have more in the 'bad' column and the actions in my past bring only feelings of remorse. I'm soo sorry to the people I hurt from age 17-33. I'm just glad I can look around and see good example in my life to help me learn sooo many different things about being a good man. I'm working on it and you never know just how much you've effected me.

Notable others: My uncles were surrogate dads for a week each summer and always seemed to enjoy spending time with me. Mr. Bendixon and Mr Daggett. I'd probably be dead or in jail if it weren't for you two in my teens. Rebellion and risk taking was strong in my and you helped moderate it.