My family doesn't have the best relationship. Not bad; nobody gets shouty or angry when we get together for the mandatory family Thanksgiving and Christmas. But beyond those things, we don't really do much together. My parents will drive three hours to my city to spend three hours at a football game and then drive three hours home. They might find twenty minutes to meet me for coffee as long as it isn't out of their way.

But two things stand out about my dad recently. One, a year or two ago he admitted he wished he'd done more with us as kids. He worked a lot and then tried to cram stuff in on weekends haphazardly, and nothing ever went well. I thought the admission really said a lot about his introspection and how he thought of us kids (i.e. he thought well of us).

The second was when I ran my first half marathon a few weeks ago. He called me the day before it, and after I finished he sent an email to his siblings about how cool it was that I'd done it.

So, even while things haven't been perfect, I'm glad he still tries. Now approaching his 70s, he's admitting his flaws, still trying and doing better.