Son of Frankendad

another brick in the wall, part You, originally uploaded by Chris Valle Photography.

I realized a while (a few years?) ago I really needed a Father both now, but more crucially, in my 'formative' years, than I had ever admitted in my 30s or realized ever before. There were an array of teaching moments, pearls of wisdom, resources both financial and emotional, etc., that I missed out on, and in some way still need. It gelled when I realized I had been collecting Father Figures...much in the same way I once did with action figures. I realized that I was collecting examples of men whose stories I felt both resonated with who I was, but also presented me with new examples of 'being'. People like Rollins, Zappa, Dr. Cornel West, Stephen Tobolowsky...plenty of others. It hasn't always been a matter of modelling my behaviour or altering my path so much as my being able to enhance and build my sense of self and manhood by hearing the stories of other people's journeys, however they might overlap or diverge. I'm building a Franken-Dad from the wisest, coolest, most solid examples I can find: gene-splicing found emotional DNA from wherever I can get it.

I'm not sure what it means to be a man...hopefully there are a variety of legitimate interpretations of the role. I'm making mine up as I go along.