The family part comes with age, I think. At least it has with me. I take it a lot more seriously than I did before my dad died and before I became a father.

The faith is a bit more complicated. I'm always been pretty much an atheist, but I understand that people of faith are in my camp. That's just a reality. And frankly it bothers me when people of faith have their beliefs belittled so casually. Even Muslims. The relationship that people have with their God, Maker, Creator, whatever is as personal as it gets. Living in Northern Idaho puts you into contact with lots of Mormons. I'm talking mainstream LDS, not the offshoots. Sure, the Maroni thing is pretty weird, but you never find a mainstream LDS on welfare. They take care of each other.

The faith mixes with the family. I'd like my son to have God in his life. I'm not sure why, exactly. For whatever reason it seems to me not to be a bad thing. Socialization, morality...I don't know. I not only want him to have a better life than we have, but I also want him to be a better person than I am.