Becoming your own person often begins by recognizing the impact that others have had on you.

Gratitude is more than saying thanks; it is recognizing the investment made and extending the gift to others.

Good parenting includes teaching children how to think, question, and learn, not simply what to believe.

Father’s Day has always felt different to me than Mother’s Day. With my mom, there was a well-established ritual. We would make cards and present them during a special brunch, either at home or at a restaurant with my extended family. My dad would give my mom flowers or a gift, and the day was unmistakably focused on celebrating her. My children have continued this tradition in honoring their own mother.

Father’s Day, on the other hand, always felt more like leftovers of a great meal than the meal itself. We might make cards, or we might not. Maybe we would have a nice breakfast. We would certainly wish my dad a “Happy Father’s Day,” but there was never the same sense of occasion. My children seem to have inherited this tradition as well.

Good leftovers, however, have something that great meals often lack. As the ingredients continue to meld over time, the flavors deepen, and the texture becomes richer. Leftovers may not have the same presentation or fanfare as the original meal, but they offer something more personal, familiar, and memorable.

That is how Father’s Day feels to me. My appreciation for my father is different from that for my mother. I am grateful to my mom for the countless ways she raised my brothers and me and for how she continues to hold our family together. My gratitude for my dad, however, serves as the foundation for the kind of father I hope to be.

In my late twenties, as I was beginning to build a family of my own, relatives would watch me interact with my young children and say, “You’re turning into........

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