I call my father every weekend. It's a habit. Something I just got used to doing when my mother was still alive. She would always say, "Don't forget to call your father," almost as if she knew she would not always be there to make sure. I don't suppose there was any foresight involved. She just knew that there was a good possibility that with her health, that he would be around after she was gone. She was right. Still I make the call now more than ever to make sure that things are going alright for him. It doesn't seem like much, but it connects us as a family. And since he is a hundred miles away and the economic times make it more difficult to get up to see him, these phone calls are now more important than ever. I give him an update on how the week went, tell him of the recent adventures of the boys, and get the update on how his week went. It's a habit... and a good one at that.

I guess I get a few more habits from my mother. I learned the value of thrifiness. Not everything that my mother was thrify at, that would be extreme. Rather, I learned that for a little bit of money, you can eat well, and quickly, when you get home from work tired and not wanting to spend hours in front of the stove. You buy in bulk, take a little bit of time on the weekend, and prepare things so that when you are in that somnolent state, you have a range of things that you can do in order to get dinner up quickly without a fuss. I precook cubed chicken and ground beef in family size portions and freeze them so that they can be thawed and used as recipe ingredients. I set up full courses so that they can be frozen and used without having to put it all together. I fill my freezer full of dinner ideas so that my wife and I don't have to think to make meals. It's a habit.

I learned to do without so that I can have later. The big-ticket items that are so in vogue right now don't need to be gotten if you have a servicable alternative right now. Take my TV. I bought a 27" CRT TV about 3 years ago to replace the old one that had died. It's not as great as the LCDs that can be bought nowadays for about the same price as I paid, but it works and it does exactly what I need. I see people going out an buying that 47" LCD to watch the big games and I sometimes wonder what I'm missing. Then I look at my family and my bank accounts and I know that when the time comes, I can get the food and clothes that my family needs, or the car repair that just can't wait. I know I did the right thing. It's a habit.

I look at my family and see my two sons and my wonderful wife. I know that they are going to remember everything about their lives with me. I look at my father and I know that he remembers what life was like with my mother. And I remember my mother if in a good light, and see all that she taught me. I need to do everything I can to make it as good for my family as she made it for her family. To make sure that they have good memories too. I don't know what the future holds, but I know that for right now I'm doing everything right so that we have a future...

It's a habit, I suppose...