Father's Day

I wrote this post a while back but I thought that this would be the appropriate time to post it.
I have never gotten along with my father, and as far as I am concerned, he has never been a father to me. I won't go into the reasons, in fact I've never really told anyone why (well one person but she knows who she is). And to be entirely honest I don't get along with my paternal grandfather either.
My maternal grandfather sounded like a great man, but he unfortunately died before I was even a thought, cancer claimed his life back when my mother was only 7.
But throughout my life I have had several surrogate father like figures.
The first was an elderly man, and my next door neighbor for the first 15 or so years of my life. He was a little Italian man, and one of the nicest people that you would ever want to meet. He taught me many life lessons, probably more than he ever knew, he was truly a friend to me, and always will be. Sadly around the time I was 16 he had a heart attack, and his family decided to move him into an assisted living home, I only saw him a couple more times after that. Within a year he passed away. His was the first funeral I ever attended, and the first loss of a friend that I ever experienced. But I would not be the person I am today without the influence of the man that I have always known as Tony. It is partially because of him that I am as kind and empathetic as I am today.
The second of my surrogate father figures came into my life when I joined SPARC, he donated more time and equipment to the project than it had ever seen before, and he brought the program back to its former glory. It was he, who helped me earn my place in the Freemasons, and he who taught me how important it was to make connections everywhere. He taught me to be more outgoing and gave me the pointers that helped me become the public speaker that I am today. He was with me through my entire process of becoming a Freemason, and when I received my third degree I could see an immeasurable amount of pride on his face, and that made me feel fantastic, just for those few moments that void that has always existed in me from not having a true father like figure was filled. But then he moved to Florida towards the end of 2010, and I haven't heard from him since. I can only hope that he is doing well.
The third and most recent of my surrogate father figures is one whom I still keep in regular contact with. I met him as I was inducted into the National Honor Society and he helped me through the process of becoming the Junior Vice President and eventually the President of the NHS, it is him who I have to thank for helping me gain the skills that I would need to become a good leader.
Without these surrogate father figures in my life I do not think that I would be the person that I am today, but in a sense that is true of everyone that I know, each person that has crossed into my life has effected me in some profound way, no matter how short they may have been in my life, they all have a great effect on shaping who I am.
I only hope that someday I can inspire people in a positive way and help to shape them into the people that they will become. And I hope that one day I can be a great father to my children, and instil the qualities of kindness, confidence, leadership, and many more that I pick up throughout my life.