Three and one. A snowy day, circa 1984. Scott, Ryan, Rob and David.

I accepted responsibility for these boys when Julie and I married in 1979. Scott was 9, Ryan - 13, Rob - 16. The extent to which I influenced who they have become, large or small, is the proudest achievement of my life.

I believe the Universe is a far stranger place than we can imagine. I cannot dismiss anyone's religious or spiritual experience. My own spiritual experience is simply the intense conviction that there is no distance between the universe and me. I do not have any cosmic guilt or feeling of sin and disapproval. So much for not being raised Catholic. The only truly inexplicable coincidences in my life, the kind that would make you believe in God if you were so inclined, have gone in my favor. So, as far as I can tell I'm fine with whatever or whomever is out there. If I have it wrong, it sure doesn't feel that way.

In the unlikely event I am judged by my maker, however, I will offer these three men as my witnesses, evidence and justification. Should that prove insufficient, then the entire proposition of human life makes no sense to me whatever. Do with me what you will, this was my best and most enduring accomplishment.