Thanks, dad

Letters to the editor - With less than a week until Father's Day, it's time to start thinking about ways to give a "thank you" to a very special man in our lives. Maybe you'll go with the predictable gift choices of a cologne/ aftershave giftset or argyle socks. Perhaps you'll make something yourself or treat dad to a home cooked meal. It really doesn't matter, as long as you take the time to show dad you care.

And if you're stuck on ideas or thoughts about what fatherhood is all about, in the same vein as we did for Mother's Day, here are a few quotes to muse:

° Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad. Anon

° Father taught us that opportunity and responsibility go hand in hand. I think we all act on that principle; on the basic human impulse that makes a man want to make the best of what's in him and what's been given him. Laurence Rockefeller

° The only thing my dad ever said to me was - because my dad was very successful and very ambitious - he said, 'If you're going to do this, you better be the very best.' That was the only thing he ever said to me. 'I don't want to see you being second.' And that was a pretty heavy thing to say to me. Stevie Nicks

° A father carries pictures where his money used to be. Anon

° Never raise your hand to your kids. It leaves your groin unprotected. Red Buttons

° My father was frightened of his mother. I was frightened of my father and I am damned well going to see to it that my children are frightened of me. King George V

° Fatherhood is pretending the present you love most is soap-on-a-rope. Bill Cosby

° A man knows when he is growing old because he begins to look like his father. Gabriel Garcia Marquez

But no matter how you say it, be sure you let your dad know how much of an inspiration and influence he's been on your life.

Christopher Vaughan