What follows is a very special post written by my son Andrew. He was asked to present during a Foster Parent Appreciation conference in St. Petersburg, Fl. Here's what I learned from Andrew. As we all know, Father's day is tomorrow. People will be celebrating and honoring their fathers, amid gifts of gaudy neckties and potent colognes. They will thank their fathers for everything they have done: those long distance piggyback rides, help with that really hard math homework, building the most awesome tree house ever, and the teaching of life's lessons. Sine I never had an awesome tree house growing up (Not that I'm bitter or anything...) I'd like to share with you the three most important life lessons my father has passed on to me, and that one day, I hope to pass on to my children. The first lesson is simple. How to pack. Having traveled frequently between Maine, where I attended school, and Florida, where My father lived, I learned how to pack. My way. This consisted of me throwing everything I owned into one duffel bag and sitting on it so I could  close the zipper. Not exactly the model of efficiency. One day, my father happened upon me, furiously hopping up and down on my duffel bag. He had obviously seen enough  as he stopped me, and showed my the right way to fold my clothes, so that they would ALL fit... By folding shirts, shorts and pants in half, and then rolling them up into a burrito-like shape, you could fit significantly more clothes in the duffel bag. By doing doing this, my father showed me that there are always many ways to solve a problem. Sometimes it just takes a fresh perspective. Lesson two. Always treat people like people. When encountering a person for the first time, Asked them their name, use their name when speaking with them, say please, thank you and you're welcome. The results of your interaction will be significantly more positive. I can't tell you the number of times I was embarrassed by my father at the grocery checkout line or at a restaurant. "Why must he talk to everyone?" I would think to myself. But he knew that people make the world go round, and his kind words and generous actions were the grease. The third lesson is the most important. Have a dream. Always follow it, no matter what. For the first half of my life, my father worked in the construction trade. He provided for the family, and was generally content. But on day my father brought home a Commodore 64 personal computer. You could tell how excited and intrigued he was by this new technology. This was his future. So, in his late thirties, he took the plunge and followed his dream. How he runs his own company. He's happily married, He has achieved his dream of  having  everday truly be just another day in paradise. For these lesson's, I am appreciative of my father and all he has done for me.