For Rod, My Father-In-Law and Conservative Hero

I met Rod, my father-in-law, in the late spring of 1998. He was this tall, bespectacled, distinguished, almost elegant gentleman standing in the doorway and I remember being somewhat intimidated by him. At first. Then he smiled and shook my hand (it was rather quite formal, I'm not sure if he remembers), and that was that. A year later he would become my family and honestly, the only father I've ever known. I know I know, so many melodramatic stories feature the 'only father I've ever known' tagline but it's the truth. He's been my 'dad' for almost 25 years.