Like Father, Like Son

Last summer Chris decided to utilize his sweet police skills and look up information on his father.

His parents divorced when Chris was just a baby, and then his mom moved a few states away for a fresh start, so Chris grew up never knowing his father, though he had some excellent father figures.

It's just not the same, though, so 30 years later after the divorce Chris started to do some digging.

Eventually he was able to narrow the field to a few phone numbers, and after getting a fax machine and then a disconnected the line, he accepted that if the other numbers didn't work, it wasn't meant to be.

Success on the second to last number! It took so much courage to call, and slowly Chris began building a relationship over the phone with his estranged father.

Then this week Chris showed further courage by flying to meet his paternal side of the family, and will return home on his birthday. Though it was all new, he immediately could relate to certain mannerisms and quirks that he's had all his life in his father, and learned how alike they really are, especially in looks.

He closely resembles his Grandpa Martin, seen here in the early '40s.

But not nearly as much as his father, a Navy Vietman Vet.

They've been able to swap stories and fill in a tiny bit of the 30 year hole from not being in each other's lives.

From chatting around the fire pit to hitting a matinee on Earl's Harley-Davidson "Alice," the father and son team has really bonded.

I was informed that Chris's father is also quite the cook, so I'm hoping that Chris will come home with a few more culinary skills under his belt...