So — my dad’s going in for emergency hip replacement surgery (EDIT: and it was a success!)

Not how I expected to spend Father’s Day weekend! (He had an accident out with his bicycling group this morning — he’s fully fine otherwise, conscious etc. and waiting for the surgery in a bit, and a doctor who is part of the group was there the whole time making sure he was all right, so from the sound of it everything should be good. [EDIT: And indeed it was, surgery went off without a hitch and all should now just be recuperation for some time.])

If you’ve followed my blog, you’ll know I’ve occasionally mentioned my parents as I go — both are now readers of the blog so I hope they’ve never minded the mentions, and won’t mind this! — and while I do my best to at least get him a good card and a little something for each Father’s Day, he’s never felt too fussed about it.

Still, as I’ve said irregularly here over time, and as I’ve hope I’ve said many times to others, I am quite profoundly grateful to my dad and very proud to be his son — this old blog post of mine, my political ‘statement of purpose’ as much as anything, hopefully testifies fully to what a fine example he has always set for me and does still for how best to interact with the rest of the world, each of us individuals but able to meet at some point in discussion and better understanding of the other. And this only scrapes the surface of it, and for the excellent example he has always set for myself and others in many areas I would not exchange him for any father in the world. I am and remain incredibly lucky on this front, and very, very fortunate, and thankful — both my parents are the source of my best qualities and if there’s anything you’ve seen in me that you appreciate, please know it came from them.

It’s been widely remarked that the sudden passing of Tim Russert yesterday came at a truly sadly ironic moment, where he had on the one hand just helped his beloved father move to an assisted care facility and on the other had witnessed his son’s graduation from Boston College, and all this with Father’s Day at hand. I’ve little to add to that, beyond simply saying that the call tomorrow I was going to give my dad anyway will be all the more heartfelt.

I’ll conclude by noting he’ll see this eventually and hopefully will not be embarrassed at the sentiments. If you’ve had the fortunate chance to meet him at any point, please feel free to leave a comment, or just a well wish in general.

And I’ll hope he’ll not mind the bonus of me once again posting that 1982 Captain Kangaroo clip he appears in and partially narrates — and to note once more that the universal reaction from a lot of my female friends has always been, “Ned, your dad’s HOT.” (My mom thanks you all.)