ABOVE THE LEAVES

Dear Spike:

When I was a little boy, my father would read “Go, Dog. Go!” to me and my siblings, always slowing slightly, toward the end, as the canine cast climbed a tree and then crescendoing in a rapid-fire fit of glee as they surfaced, above the leaves, to reveal...

A dog party!
A big dog party!
Big dogs, little dogs,
red dogs, blue dogs,
yellow dogs, green dogs,
black dogs, and white dogs
are all at a dog party!
What a dog party!

We all loved it.

Not only because P.D. Eastman’s story was such an amusing — and absurd — tale, and not only because our father’s reading of the book was so entertaining.

No, I think we loved it most because we got to see our father — normally so stern and serious — having fun.

For my first Father’s Day, you and your mom gave me a copy of the book I so loved when I was a boy. I immediately turned to the dog party scene, trying to invoke my father’s tone as I read...

A dog party!
A big dog party!
Big dogs, little dogs,
red dogs, blue dogs,
yellow dogs, green dogs,
black dogs, and white dogs
are all at a dog party!
What a dog party!

I’m not sure I have it down, quite yet. But I suspect I’ll have plenty of opportunities, over the next few years, to work on it.

Meanwhile, I’ll be trying to emulate my father in other ways, striving to balance my dedication to work with my devotion to family; trying to teach you to make principled decisions; and hoping to be a righteous example for you.

To be authoritative and yet compassionate. To be strict and yet yielding. To be serious and yet fun.

At times amusing. At time absurd. And always — always — letting you know that you are the most important thing in my life.

Love,
dad