Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

A dad is someone who wants to catch you before you fall, but instead picks you up, brushes you off, and lets you try again. That is the real learning, a dad has for you. How would you learn the realities of life until you fall once. So fall and get back in action with full throttle is what a dad teaches to a kid. He is the one who wants to keep you from making mistakes, but instead lets you find your own way, even though his heart breaks in silence when you get hurt. Learning from mistakes is a great way to be successful in life. Fathers hold you when you cry, scold you when you break the rules, shine with pride when you succeed, and have faith in you even when you fail…My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me. The greatest thing a FATHER can do to his children, is to love their mother.

My life’s Realities:

Dad…When i was born, you were there to catch me when i fall, whenever and wherever. When i said my first words, you were there for me, to teach me the whole dictionary if need be. When i took my first steps, you were there to encourage me on. When i had my first day at school, you were there to give me advice and help me with my homework. I finished school and college, did amazingly well because of you and now have my first child. But i know, you will be there for me through all these times and more, the good and bad. So i just wrote this to say ‘I LOVE YOU DAD!!

A father is someone who holds your hand at the fair, makes sure you do what your mother says, holds back your hair when you are sick, brushes that hair when it is tangled because mother is too busy, lets you eat ice cream for breakfeast, but only when mother is away, he walks you down the aisle and tells you everything’s going to be ok. It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father. They say that from the instant he lays eyes on her, a father adores his daughter. Whoever she grows up to be, she is always to him that little girl in pigtails. She makes him feel like Christmas. In exchange, he makes a secret promise not to see the awkwardness of her teenage years, the mistakes she makes or the secrets she keeps.

I’ve had a hard life, but my hardships are nothing against the hardships that my father went through in order to get me to where I started. Who is the one person who can always make me smile? Even when I’m mad at him? Even when he makes me cry? Even when he makes fun of me or laughs at me. He is one of the people who has always been there for me, one who has always loved, cared, and provided for me. He is one of the two most important people in the world to me. Someone I LOVE with all my heart.

He is my friend,my hero, but most importantly he is my…Daddy!!!! I Love you dad! I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.