Father's Day, Books and Blessings

When you have worked in the news business and you've lived in several different places around the world, you are a realist, you know there is good and bad and lots of in between. You also appreciate the blessings in your  life. My parents are one of the biggest (and definitely the earliest) blessings.

My Dad and my Mom gave me unconditional love, made sure I got educated, let me go off on adventures half way across the world (Bangladesh is literally across the globe from America), and let me marry for love. Many parents don't, but they did. I am who I am thanks to them. All my books, my projects, are possible because of them.

My father, Capt. Rashid Khan, is no longer with us. However, his impact on my life is there and will be there through generations.

To celebrate him this Father's Day, I'll share five facts about him:

1. He lied about his age and ran off to join the Merchant Navy.

2. He wooed my Mom away from another man.

3. He loved to laugh and make people laugh.

4. He loved to dance. In fact, my memory of the last New Year's Eve he was alive was watching him and my Mom dance.

5. He traveled the world, but we were his world.

With a dad like him, how could I not write romance? So dear readers, celebrate your fathers today whether they are with you or not. A good dad makes a world of difference.