Today I grieve

I did not know Tim Russert personally but I always admired his journalism. He asked tough questions of conservative and liberal alike and I grew to like his show, "Meet the Press", and his appearances on MSNBC's myriad political shows. He was a political junkie who had great political insight, often right on the mark when most of his peers wandered far off the reservation.

However, what made me a big Tim Russert fan were his books, particularly, "Big Russ and Me". I always knew Russert did not grow up a child of privilege, but like me, he was someone from a blue collar background, from a tough blue collar city, who admired, respected, and loved his father enormously. I often wondered if we shared the same father since the descriptions he gave of his dad were mirror-images of my own. His books on life and fatherhood made my laugh, cry, and think all at the same time. He was an overweight father, like myself, who loved his family and worked hard to provide for them. On this Father's Day, as well celebrate fathers around the country, I tip my drink and my hat to Tim Russert who was taken from us far too soon.

So before you go to bed tonight make sure you tell your father, grandfather, step-father, father-in-law, or your kids, just how much you love them. Tim Russert's sudden passing proves just how precious life really is.

It's been 2,469 days since there was terrorist attack on US soil. Good day and God Bless.