By Lee McLane Editor/Publisher and Simba the late Squeaks adoptive baby

Well - in case you’ve forgotten, this Sunday is Father’s Day.  My dad has been gone since 1991 - so I have no real pressure for this Father’s Day - but it is a day I remember all the fun I had with my dad.

Growing up, I didn’t have a lot of time with my dad. He was working most of the time when I wasn’t in school,  so I saw him on the weekends - some - because he still had to work on Sunday nights. But I got to go to work with him some. He was news director at KARK Channel 4 in Little Rock. So, that was a fun thing. But really, I didn’t get to know my dad until I started working with him at this newspaper and then later I bought it. This August, I will have been editor/publisher for as many years as he was when he retired - 22 years. That’s a long time. Anyway, being in the daily work environment, you get to know whomever you are working with and especially family. My dad was a man of principle. He was very ethical and I was always proud of him. He  and I were very close for several years while we worked together. I don’t think I could have ever gotten that close to him if we had not worked together. It was  good to have him so close and available for advice - which he rarely gave unless I asked him. He was not preachy about “stuff.” He was a good parent in that he unconditionally loved me and I knew it. We used to play a silly game where he or I would think of a number between one and ten and the other would guess which number it was. More often than not (90% of the time) we would get it. Now, if I could only do that with the lottery.

Now that I’m older, I have, it seems, grown into many of his unique (eccentric) habits. I do believe we all are unique - it’s just that uniqueness  does not always show up right away. So, when you get to  know someone - you see their uniqueness (eccentricities). No big deal - but I think that is what made me understand him to the degree that I did.

Anyway, I hope that all of you celebrate your special relationship you have/had with your father.  And, if you don’t have that relationship and still have a chance to change it, please start working on it. You will be glad you did.

Happy Father’s Day all you dads!!!!

Go to your happy place! (One of mine: sitting in the warm sand on a beach at night, moon overhead, ocean waves crashing in, slight warm breeze, toes in the sand, etc.)

See you next week!