Thanks to A.J. for asking me to fill in this week. My newsletter — free to subscribe — is here.

I asked my therapist what to write about this week for Father’s Day. She said, “How about your dad, since you literally never talk about him.”

Fine.

My dad was not an absentee father by any stretch, but he was busy. By 1975, my parents were 26 and 28 years old with four boys, ages 0, 1, 8 and 10. My dad was the breadwinner, using his triple-E (“electrical and electronic engineering”) degree to begin a long career in hardware, then software. He got some help from his parents getting through college, but then it was off and running, a full-on adult whose life consisted entirely of responsibilities.

He always wanted to be a photographer, but never considered that as a career. He did carry around a Rollei 35t everywhere he went, the same brand and vintage of camera I carry around today. It’s an indestructible little rectangular solid and doesn’t need a battery to operate. At one of his early jobs, he took a bathroom selfie that remains one of my favorite photos of all time, by anyone. Here’s a cartoon of it.