First, let me join the rest of the world by talking about Tiger Woods, specifically his relationship with his father. It is no secret that my father means the world to me. I mean that as no slight to my mother, but since I was 4, I always remember being closer to him. I used to cry when my father went out of town, and I'd be right there in the living room waiting on him when he returned. In my preteen and teen years, my father was the dictator, and our relationship was strained. He would still show me why he was my hero, but more often than not, he would show me that he was the father, I was the son, and if I were to disobey that he'd rain down with furious vengeance. But since my college years, and definitely since around age 25, my father has been my best friend. We talk about everything from sports, to politics, to his divorce from my mother, to women in general. Not a week goes by when I don't trade an email or a phone call with him. Back on Father's Day 1996, when Michael Jordan won the NBA championship, and then immediately started crying over his slain father, I immediately called my father and did the same. He was thinking of his father who died suddenly of heart attack at the age of 50, and I was thinking of my father who was miles away from me.

That being said, I can't imagine losing my father. Not now anyway. I've yet to do so many things, and once I do, I'll need his advice and his love to get thru. That is mad selfish of me I know, but that's the bar my father has set for our relationship. So when I saw Tiger break down on that 18th hole yesterday, I felt that. No to get terribly melodramatic, but I damn near cried myself. After EVERY golf event, loss or victory, Tiger and his dad would talk about what he did well, what he could improve on, and everything in between. After Tiger's FIRST major victory, he made a beeline for his father, and cried in his arms for a good 10 minutes for all the world to see. After his last victory, Earl Woods wasn't there in person, wasn't accessible by phone, just nowhere to be found except in Tiger's head. That alone was enough to make him lose it. And i felt for him.

I didn't call my dad right away, but we did talk about Tiger and other things. It is rare that my dad and I end the convo with an I love you..but we did yesterday. perhaps we should more often.