My father comes from a generation of men -- perhaps the last -- for whom expressing affection towards their children, particularly children of the same sex, can be awkward. I'm sure this has something to do with evolving gender roles and what it means to "be a man." For my dad's generation -- the early baby boomers -- being a man meant providing a family with essentials, not emoting all over the place. Men were to be sturdy and stoic, not soft and sensitive.

I also get the impression that my dad wasn't too close to his parents. His mother seemed distant, his father eccentric -- neither the personification of affection. When I think back to my father's interactions with his parents before they passed, words like "cordial" and "businesslike" come to mind. He was kind to them because he's a kind person, but I never got the impression that he was maintaining fulfilling relationships. In light of that, I'm surprised he even knew how to express affection to my brother and me.

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