Dreams and the Day-to-Day

Assuming you want to play, who makes the best father: 1) the man who achieves his grand ambitions; 2) the man who brings shame to himself; 3) the man who fully lives withing his modest means and dreams?

Every circumstance is different, but the great man does not appear to top man on the dad totem pole, at least based on Allegra Huston's Love Child. Her father, Hollywood legend John Huston, gave her everything and nothing at all except a resentment she keeps under control in her memoir.

Preferable to the great man as dad appears to be the once-great man. That at least is the story told from the day-to-day of Manan Sharma, an up and coming cricketer whose father Ajay, an Indian bowler of great promise, was banned from competition for alleged match-fixing. That shame gave him options he never would have had if he had continued as a sports idol. As the father told The Indian Express, "Had I been playing, I couldn’t have given him that much attention."

However, at least from a daughter's tribute, the greatest dad is the one of least means who keeps himself and his life under control and devoted to others. Even on the computer you can almost feel the tears of love and longing that stain the page as a loving lady, Californian Kim Anderson, memorializes lost father Edward Garfalo with: "I’ve tried to pick up where he left off as best I can. Every letter I write is for him. I’m a daughter who loves and misses her dad and wants to continue honoring him in some small way. This is for you, Dad. I know you’re looking down and smiling at seeing your name in print again. I love you."

The jury is coming in with its verdict.