I was a terrible father. The most I ever did for my children was to teach them chess. At least they got that.
I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves.
I am deeply aware of the disappointment and hurt that my infidelity has caused to so many people, most of all my wife and children.
I love my father, and I believe in him. And he lost to Dan Quayle. I had a hard time understanding how that could happen.
The only result my father got for his money was the certainty that his son had laid faultlessly the foundation of a system of heavy drinking and could be always relied upon to make a break of at least twenty-five even with a bad cue.
When I was born my mother was terribly disappointed. Not that she wanted a girl - she wanted a divorce.
I loved my mother very much, but she was not a good cook. Most turkeys taste better the day after; my mother's tasted better the day before. In our house Thanksgiving was a time for sorrow.
Parents - especially step-parents - are sometimes a bit of a disappointment to their children. They don't fulfill the promise of their early years.
Watching him was like opening the door to a siniging telegram; you know it's supposed to be entertaining, but you can't get beyond the sad fact that this person actually thinks he bringing some joy into your life. Somewhere he had a mother who sifted through a shoe box of mimeographed playbills, pouring herself another drink and wondering when her son would come to his senses and swallow some drain cleaner.
Nostradamus, who predicted that Billy Bailey would not come home. Never got a dinner!
My parents were horrified when I told them I wanted to be an author.
After everything he'd built, planned, fought for, fretted over, dreamed of, this was the summation of his life; one disappointing son and two suitcases.
He didn't like to see either of the women in his family disappointed; it ruined perfectly good meals.
What scares me is not living up to be a good enough father to my son and letting down my family - not being there enough and not being able to give enough of yourself.
