What Matters Most

Tears of gratitude welled up in my eyes early this morning when I received the following e-mail from my daughter Sarah Elizabeth (affectionately nicknamed "Sadie Belle" by me when she was just a sprat):

OH Daddy!!
I'm sooo proud of you!
I'm *"Ruby Tuesday's", but you're "Civil Rights"....
I love you and I'm phenomenally proud (and psychopathalogically ego stricken) that you're my father!!
Love,
Sadie Belle

* "Ruby Tuesday's" is a reference by Sarah to her 2004 partnership with "Good Morning America" to expose and eliminate sex discrimination by the "Ruby Tuesday" chain of eateries.

From: "Larry D. Kump" kumpster@mymailstation.com
To: Friends & Family
Subject: College Honors Convocation Gets It Exactly Right
Date: Thursday, 18 May 2006 21:41:37 EDT

They really made a big deal over me at the Hagerstown Community College Honors Convocation tonight, but, what I liked best about the list of my accomplishments that they touted was that, first and foremost, they noted that I am "the Father of David & Sarah".