Dear readers and friends, this entry is going to be a bit of a departure from  the usual fare here, but please bear with me. Many of you read my post about my brother Alfred and saw how much he meant to me; this is a chance for me to do what I asked you to do in that post. Today I want to introduce the world to the men that have shaped me in my life and whom I owe so much to. These are some of the greatest men I have ever known!

My grandfather Robert, everyone called him 'Sang", was probably the biggest influence in my life. I grew up with him and I swore he hung the moon and the stars in heaven! He was the strongest, funniest, hardest working man that I thought ever lived when I was a kid. But the thing that shaped me the most was that he loved me, my brothers and sisters and was willing to do just about anything for us. He instilled in me a work ethic and the knowledge that if I was going to ever be anything in life, I had better be prepared to work for it, because nobody was going to give me anything.

He also made sure that the kids living in his house went to school and got an education. He was a child of the Depression and he never really got to go to school because he had to help his family put food on the table. He never learned to read and he knew how hard it made his life, so he insisted that we get good grades and respect our teachers so that we would not have to live by the sweat of our brows, like he had to. I appreciate that to this day and I feel like my continuing my education is in a way honoring him because I am doing something that would make him proud. My only regret is that he passed away before my children had a chance to meet him and know what it was to be loved by that wonderful man.

My eldest brother Alfred was by far the most honest, upright, God-fearing man that I will probably ever know. But he was also one of the funniest and most irreverent as well. As I said before, his presence in my life led me to a love of reading that I have to this day, and have been able to pass onto my son. I always felt that I had to be well read and knowledgeable so that I could hold my own in conversations with him, as he did not suffer fools lightly.

He was also a man that made you feel loved whenever he was around. Since he has been gone, the one thing that I have missed most is his hugs...he had a way of embracing you that just let you know that he loved you unconditionally and would always be there to support you no matter what the circumstance. I miss the reassurance that he could always offer in good and bad times, just by a word, a look, and especially one of his hugs!

Brother number two is Dewey, the great athlete in the family. When I was a kid, you could not convince me that there was any better ball player in the world than my big brother! He used to take me and my little brother out in the yard and pound us in football and basketball all the time. But when we got a little older and wanted to really learn to play, he was right there to show us what he knew. That means a lot to a kid brother to have his big brother care enough about him to be willing to hang around home to teach me something when he could have been hanging out with his friends. That made me feel like I was something special, and I will always appreciate that.

I also look up to "Chuck" because of the way he lives his life. This is a man that joined the army in his twenties, started college in his thirties, and is now doing social work and serving in the National Guard as well. And he did all of this while being a good husband to his wife, and a loving father to his children. His drive and determination to succeed in all of his endeavors is a constant inspiration to me, and lets me know that I can achieve my goals just like he did.

Last but not least is my brother Pat, my 'little' brother. If there has been one person that has been with me through thick and thin, it's Pat. Good times, bad times, happy times, or sad times, I have always been able to count on him. He is my best friend, the one that I can talk to about anything and know that it will go no farther than him. He's the one that keeps me supplied with video games so that I won't have to buy them, and he's the one that calls me every week just to shoot the breeze! He is my sounding board and he also drops some things from time to time that end up here in the blog. He is a wonderful father, a great husband, and a young civil engineer that has a bright future in that field...unless he chooses to do something else. I am so proud to have him as my brother and friend!

And I can't forget my brother from another mother, big Craig P! This man works full time and is raising his three kids on his own, and he's younger than me! I am so proud of the man that he has become and I know that his mother would be too if she were still with us. He is light years away from the spoiled little boy he was when we were growing up, I can assure the world of that!

This is also a man that when I was going through a particularly rough time in my life, he was right there by my side. Every day for weeks, he would get off work and come by my house to make sure that I was okay, that I had someone to lean on. He never said that was why he was there, but I knew and I appreciated it. That is what men are made of!

So please everyone, honor the great men in your lives. Let them know that they are appreciated and are valued by the people they love. Don't you think they deserve it?