MEDIA CONTEST: Honoring fathers this Father's Day

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ACC MEDIA CONTEST --  A 12- and 10-year-old boy and a chainsaw ...

I'm not sure what picture those words paint in your mind, but in my mind, that picture isn't pretty.

My 12-year-old mind, on the other hand, wasn't thinking about the horrors of what could have happened when I decided, along with my brother, to use our grandfather's chainsaw during the construction of our Top-Secret Super G.I. Joe Fort in the desert behind our grandparent's home in Chaparral, N. M.

Construction was well underway when we ran out of material to build the walls of our super fort. We knew there was no way on earth we could defeat Cobra (G.I. Joe's nemesis) with a half-built super fort, and with the future of the world at stake, we felt it was our duty to use my grandpa's chainsaw to cut down a few small mesquite bushes to finish the fort.

We got a little carried away and cut down more bushes than we needed. What we didn't need for the fort, we left lying on the ground.

No doubt we saved the world from Cobra's evil tyranny, but we nearly lost our backsides in the process and not from a fast-moving, highly-sharpened chainsaw blade.

I only remember my dad being angry once or twice while I was growing up, but this bush-cutting incident was one of those times. He was livid when he came home one afternoon and asked if we knew who cut down the bushes on our grandparent's land. Being a brave (and sometimes brain-cell deficient) boy, I confidently said, "No," and left the room before anyone could figure otherwise.

For months afterward, I lived in fear of the doom I knew would inevitably come when my dad found out the truth. I didn't return to the Top-Secret Super G.I. Joe Fort for a long time. I decided Cobra could take over the fort and the entire world - as long as my dad never found out what I'd done.

More than 10 years later, I finally worked up the courage to tell him what really happened. I think I was 22 , and I made sure I had a thick book stuffed firmly in the seat of my britches when I told him I was the moron who'd cut down the bushes and lied to him so many years before. I was relieved when he simply chuckled about it, only vaguely remembering the details.

But that's the way my dad is about many of the negative things I've done in my life. He doesn't remember most of my failures, but he's got a pretty good memory when it comes to my achievements - both as a child and an adult.

Now that I'm a father, I believe that's how many dads are. I know I don't remember many of the bad things my son did, but I can tell you all about the times he's made the A-honor roll and trophies he's won bowling.

I've always wished my dad a happy Father's Day, but now that I'm following in his footsteps, I'm learning to truly appreciate what a wonderful dad he's always been.

I hope everyone who reads this story has similar tales they remember about their fathers. But the two most important things to remember as we honor dads this Father's Day are: first, don't let your child play with a chainsaw; second, make sure you tell your dad he's special this Sunday.