Or should my mood be "ashamed" and the subject of this entry be "proud"?

As a teenager, I went through the usual problems with my family. You know, my parents didn't understand me, I didn't want to hang out with them, and so on. But as time goes on, you learn to appreciate your parents more, and that is certainly the case with me.

What brings this up currently is all of the WTC bombing coverage in the news. My father was a firefighter, and I'm glad to see firefighters getting the appreciation they deserve from the public. They are underpaid and typically not held in a high regard, but maybe this will change now. As a kid, I didn't understand this. But as I've grown, I've become even prouder of a father whose work was a public service. He didn't exploit laborers to earn extra money for himself, he didn't falsify earnings figures so he'd get a big bonus. My father performed a job that saved lives and property, while not making him rich. That makes me proud. I hope that he understood that I admired his work before he passed away. If not, that makes me ashamed.