Being a father is tough. In a changing and challenging world the ways to be are no longer set in stone, accepted, and understood by all. Fathers now have the freedom to express their feelings, to acknowledge their failings, to know they need to sometimes stand up and other times to sit and listen. I believe my own father, Derek, Dad, took the first faltering family steps along this changing path. I don't think he liked it, in fact I know at times he absolutely loathed it and hankered for the clear road he had seen his own father travelling upon. A road full of power, ego, violence, and rage. A road however lined with love and hidden moments of care and tenderness. A straight and narrow road with clear sign posts, an understood destination, and clearly marked milestones on the way. It was at the age of 17 that I first realised the "Dad" was more than an honorific. It was a mindset, a way of being, and most importantly it was something you could see in the behaviour of men.