One of my favourite movies is Big Fish. A son relives his father's life through tall tales his father tells while sick in bed. My daddy is a lot like the movie's dad: proud, adventurous, larger-than-life, and sentimental. My father loves to tell hyperbolic stories about his life and his observations of the world. I can't always tell what is true, but when I question about the credibility of his stories, my dad just winks at me and smiles slyly. I used to be embarrassed by my father's story-telling. I used to wish that he would stop lying. Even today, my dad reveals a few new secrets about himself and I wonder if the man I grew to know as my father is even anyone I actually know. A few times he talked about a questionable past that I had only shrugged off, thinking it's just another one of my father's stories, when one day someone shows up at my father's baptism and confirms the truths to my dad's tales. Now I let my dad say whatever he wants to say; he's not hurting anyone and besides, he entertains all of our friends with his stories. Because of my father, I've come to realize that harmless tall tales are just better than reality and sometimes when I see him in his hospital bed, I help him spin tales only we can imagine together.

"I've been nothin' but myself since the day I was born, and if you can't see that it's your failin', not mine." ~~ Senior Ed Bloom in Big Fish