Thank-you all for your observations and kind comments.
When I think of my father and how he influenced me, my first thought is "I don't want to be like him". However, I know I am reacting to the negativity he often displayed and not the positive aspects of his personality. I have acquired several of his traits (hopefully just the positive ones), but in general, I think more of my mother's.
Undoubtedly it has to do with the amount of time we are with our mothers vs. our fathers. My father worked during the day and when he came home in the evening, he wasn't in the mood to play with his children. Further, the kinds of things he liked to play at were sports oriented and my own interest was never very strong anyway.
Sometimes I wish I could do it all again knowing what I now think I know. I would like to know my father better, it would take some work and effort to do so because he wasn't very talkative, he pretty much bottled up his emotions and his thoughts. The only time you would hear him is when he was upset or angry with us.
So, tell me about your fathers, let's flip the coin....
