Well played, Father. Well played.

None of us here at MEvBLOG Central are fathers...that we know of. (Kidding!) However, that doesn't preclude us from appreciating the member of the family often unappreciated and overlooked in today's culture.

When we were young bloggers, and asked our Italian father why we had to do something (mow the lawn, go fetch the newspaper, make him a sandwich, etc.), he would answer us by striking a super-hero-fists-on-hips-with-chest-out pose and do his best Topol impersonation, while repeatedly belting out the lyric "I'm the Pa-PA!" from Fiddler on the Roof.

(Nothing pleased him more than kindly reminding us of our place on the family food chain via 1960's-era musicals. He also did a mean "Officer Krupke" from West Side Story.)

As we grew older, wiser, and taller than him, we learned to appreciate that he was often put in tough positions - many times by us. Walking the line between wanting our happiness, and telling us "No" - or forcing us to do things we didn't want for our own good - can't have been easy.

Yet our dad did it well and never, not once, did we ever question his love for us...even that one time he grounded us for no reason and justified it by saying, "Even if I'm wrong, this is for all the times you got away with something I don't know about."

We imagine this is tough for all dads to pull off, so we send the following out to Pops everywhere. It's translated from an Italian plaque that hangs on the wall at our own Pop's home and is remarkable in how accurately it resonates.

"At 3 years old, Papa knows everything.
At 8 years old, Papa knows almost everything.
At 12 years old, there are some things Papa doesn't know.
At 15 years old, Papa knows nothing.
At 20 years old, I will ask advice from Papa.
At 40 years old, I wish Papa was here."

Happy Father's Day, to ours and yours!