[Rochard]

I disagree.

How do I put this into words....

When my parents met my father was a US Marine. They had a whirlwind romance, I was born, and four months after I was born my father went off to Vietnam. Five months later he came home in a body bag.

My mother tells me - no matter what - that I am a constant reminder of her love for him, and that I've grown up to be just like him. I've grown up without a father, but I'm a former US Marine, have two college degrees, and I pay my taxes on time. I never gave much thought to my father being a hero or not, but I guess at the end of the day he died fighting for his country.

The end result is that thirty-nine years later I have a very special relationship with my father. Every trip "home" to New Jersey the first stop - always without exception - is at my father's grave. (I'm named after my father so I'm Richard Buss III, and seeing my name [Richard Buss] on his grave is a bit strange).

Every now and then I wonder what my father was like, if he would be proud of me, and how my life would be different if he hadn't died. Certain songs or events make me think of him; There are thousands of questions I'll never have the answers for.

Instead he's become a nearly mystical figure in my life.

Hopefully this child will have everything that I have in life....