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My father and I have a Sunday ritual calling each other to catch up on the previous weeks' personal and political events.  Often times, these friendly discussions get heated as he role's off the talking points from the GOP like they had been implanted in his brain.  He is my best friend and someone who I admire and deeply respect; a man who I've tried to emulate most of my life, but could never quite match the awesomeness of him.  We not only resemble each other but sound alike as well.  No one would ever doubt that I am his son.  However, when it comes down to philosophies, that's pretty much where the resemblance ends.
Both he and my mother are devout Catholics and their faith became more intricately intertwined with the church after my brother's death in 1986; meanwhile, I was going the opposite direction.  Despite that, he has always been steadfast in his beliefs about me and my brother.  That is, he believes we were born gay and did not purposely choose a life of "difficulty."  He has also said on more than one occasion, that if he had his choice, we would not have been born gay.  His reasoning is that our lives would have been so much easier due to the lack of acceptance by mainstream society.  Perhaps he is right, though I don't necessarily think I would change anything other than my chin (a Whitworth family trait), I like who I am.
Several months ago, in one of our conversations, he asked how my partner and I were holding up.  (Sidenote: Rick had been hospitalized after one of his doctor's prescribed medications that were contradictory to his high blood pressure medicine, sending him to the emergency room, where he was subsequently hospitalized for a week due to kidney fai...