When my father was a teenager he ran away from home and rode the railroad for a while. It was my mother who told me this story. He was on my mind today and I decided to write about him. Tony has several images of trains and as I looked through them it seemed to me that he would have liked this one the best.

My father Ben Wasserman was born somewhere in Russia and came here when he was only three years old. He was one of six children and the object of his father's abusive behavior. I can't remember him ever talking about his childhood. What he did was to break that chain of abuse. He treated his children (my brother and I) with love and understanding and an incredible caring.

He never finished high school because he ran away from home. But he was well spoken, a good writer, and a man who loved music, art, ballet and the theater. He was instrumental in my becoming a dancer and my brother an artist. While I am now too old to dance, my brother Arnold Wasserman is a wonderful artist.

My brother and I were in business together and we called our graphic arts establishment LAMB Studios (Lillie - our mother, Arnie - my brother, Marilyn - that's me, Benny - our father). Ben kept our books and as in everything we did he was always there encouraging us, telling us to keep going and letting us know how very proud he was of us.

Now when look back at all of this I see what a profound and wonderful influence Ben Wasserman was on me. He made me fiercely independent and helped give me incredible confidence.

He would have been 98 years old on July 11th. I love my grandchild with all my heart, but I think it pales in comparison to how much he loved his grandson Scott. He would be so incredibly proud of him.

And so, while he is on my mind only some of the time, my wonderful Daddy, Ben Wassermann is always in my heart.